
Class 

Book 

Copyright N°_ 



COJKffUGHT DEPOSfT. 



BY THE SAME AUTHOR 



THE PASSION OF HERMAN 
BRING HIM TO ME 



HEAR YE HIM 



By 

CHARLES NELSON PACE 



"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
pleased; hear ye him." — Matthew 17. 5 




THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN 

NEW YORK CINCINNATI 



r; 






Copyright, 1920, by 
CHARLES NELSON PACE 



iviAK 20 i92Q 



©CU565272 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Foreword 7 

I. His Viewpoint 9 

II. His Authority %5 

HI. His Law 41 

! IV. His Spirit 55 

V. His Words 69 

VI. His Greeting 83 

VII. His Cross 95 

VHI. His Example 109 

IX. His Victory 127 

X. His Program 143 



FOREWORD 

If I were going to write a foreword 
for this little book, I would say that 
what follows in these pages is devo- 
tional rather than exegetical, suggestive 
rather than conclusive. 

If I were going to write a dedication, 
it would be with appreciation and 
greetings to the members and friends of 
the Methodist Episcopal churches I have 
served during twenty years as a min- 
ister of Jesus Christ: in Iowa — Thorn- 
burg, Lonetree, Sigourney and Knox- 
ville; and in Minnesota — First Church, 
Saint Paul, and First Church, Duluth. 

If I were going to express a hope, it 
would be this: that the reader may 
find here something that strengthens 
faith, kindles thought, and increases 
both love and enthusiasm for Jesus 
Christ and his Kingdom. 

The Author. 
7 



I 

HIS VIEWPOINT 

"What went ye out into the wilder- 
ness to see? A reed shaken in the wind? 
What went ye out for to see? A man 
clothed in soft raiment? . . . What went 
ye out for to see? A prophet?" 

—Matthew 11. 7-9. 



HIS VIEWPOINT 

Ofttimes wisdom is found in a ques- 
tion as well as in the answer to it. The 
questions of Christ had a strange power 
to search the soul. They revealed hid- 
den depths of truth. They awakened 
thought. They compelled interest. 

Once he turned on some men who 
were following him with the salutation, 
"What seek ye?" They were made to 
examine their motives and confess either 
curiosity or sincerity. "Who do men 
say that I am?" he asked his disciples 
when he had drawn them aside in 
Csesarea Philippi, and it called forth a 
declaration of his divinity. "Will ye 
also go away?" he said to that inner 
circle when he saw some deflection of 
the crowd; and they were drawn nearer 
by a pledge of devotion. "Lovest thou 
me?" was the threefold query with 
which he probed Peter's soul in the 
11 



12 HEAR YE HIM 

gray light of that Galilsean morning; 
and with each confession of love Peter 
found his love commissioned to service. 
The questions of the Master are like 
great searchlights that pierce the dark- 
ness and with a pencil of illumination 
make plain some vital truth. 

"What went ye out into the wilder- 
ness to see?" seems like a casual in- 
quiry. Thrice he asks it and supple- 
ments it with a suggestion: "A reed 
shaken by the wind?" "A man clothed 
in fine raiment?" "A prophet?" They 
were all there in the wilderness. What 
were they looking for? When analyzed, 
those questions seem to lay bare a 
fundamental principle. You see in life 
what you are looking for. 

Viewpoint is important. The differ- 
ence in people is largely a difference in 
vision. One sees in the lake a weedy 
breeding place for croaking frogs; an- 
other peers into what seems a depth 
immeasurable where an inverted sky is 
blue and embroidered with clouds, hears 



HIS VIEWPOINT 13 

the tiny waves lap the boatside with 
tinkling music, sees lilies spread their 
pads and petals making beauty out of 
substance unbeautiful, watches a red- 
winged blackbird swaying on a reed 
and hears it whistle to its mate. A 
group stands before the majesty of 
Niagara. One is an artist and studies 
the rushing flood with appreciation of 
light and shade and color scheme; 
another considers the stratification of 
the rocks and the geologic development 
of the great chasm; another, of prac- 
tical temperament, estimates the wast- 
age of power and devises some scheme 
to utilize it. The difference is not in 
the view, but the viewpoint. In The 
Harbor, by Ernest Poole, the growing 
boy found that vast front-door yard of 
the nation at New York in succession 
a thing to fear, a thing to hate, a thing 
to love, a thing to use. In each stage 
of his development it was an inter- 
preter of life. 

What a pity to have poor vision! 



14 HEAR YE HIM 

What a misfortune to be color-blind 
or short-sighted! The pessimist says, 
"Happiness is nowhere," and the opti- 
mist replies, "Happiness is now here" 
— same words, same letters, same order, 
but a difference in spelling and accent 
and viewpoint. 

What was the Master's viewpoint? 
How did he look upon life? A wilder- 
ness of uncertainties it frequently ap- 
pears to be. We look within and find 
questioning. We look without and dis- 
cover confusion. Perhaps the Master 
himself disclosed the true viewpoint. 

There is the fatalistic way of looking 
at life. It is a "reed shaken with the 
wind." Along the Jordan, where many 
heard John preach, reeds grew in great 
abundance, running their slender forms 
through the willow and tamaric and 
waving in the sunlight with each pass- 
ing breeze. Is life a thing planted in 
a certain place, played upon by forces we 
cannot control, swayed to and fro by 
powers that bend it without our consent? 



HIS VIEWPOINT 15 

There are some who take this fatal- 
istic view of life. The soul is an arrow 
shot from the bow of the cradle to the 
target of the grave. There it goes 
sweeping through space, perhaps de- 
flected a little to right or left by some 
vagrant air current, but the general 
course is maintained, the arc of its 
flight is foreordained, the arrow is help- 
less to change its path. The soul is 
a Lusitania, speeding across the high 
seas to a distant port, laden with love 
and laughter and all precious treasure, 
but a submarine whose name is death 
lies in waiting and launches the torpedo 
of disaster which halts our course in 
agony and horror and sends us struggling 
into the unknown, where we sink amid 
wreckage and irreparable loss. 

In an art gallery in Florence hangs 
the picture of the "Three Fates." It 
portrays the old Greek legend that life 
is a thread; and so one holds the distaff, 
one is weaving, and one is ready to 
cut the thread. Thus destiny is de- 



16 HEAR YE HIM 

termined. But the faces are weary and 
wizened. Are we to understand the 
forces that control life are sad and 
brood forever on its tragedy? But that 
is the fatalistic view. We stand in the 
muck where heredity has placed us — 
caught by the currents of chance, shaken 
by the winds of circumstance, helpless 
to combat the powers that surround us. 

What comfort is there in such a 
philosophy of life? What burdens has 
it lifted from suffering souls? What 
tears has it dried from sorrow-smitten 
eyes? What doors has it unlocked to 
the temple of truth, or the palace of 
beauty, or the hall of learning, or the 
shrine of devotion? 

Life is a reed shaken by the wind 
and falling at last in decay? No! 
Rather it is a reed woven into some 
basket to hold the form of the infant 
Moses, who shall bring deliverance to a 
great nation; a reed fashioned into a 
flute on which some David may play 
a psalm of praise to God; a reed thrust 



HIS VIEWPOINT 17 

into the hand of the persecuted Christ, 
and thus glorified as the symbol of his 
authority to the ends of the earth. 

There is the materialistic viewpoint. 
"A man clothed in soft raiment" sug- 
gests the way of many. Our times 
have been keyed up to this idea, though 
the war, thank God, has shown us 
there are greater values to strive for 
than silver and gold. But none will 
deny that the "man in soft raiment" 
has been envied and his possessions 
coveted. We have worshiped at the 
shrine of success. We have bowed 
down at the altar of Mammon. 

In The Far Country, by Churchill, 
is the picture of a young man who 
gives himself over to this ideal. He 
made his way to material success, to 
position, to opulence. But even while 
surrounded with luxury his soul dwelt 
in a wilderness more barren than that 
of the prodigal of old. Why this dis- 
content and wretchedness? It was be- 
cause he continually stifled something 



18 HEAR YE HIM 

fine in his soul. He was untrue to 
inherited ideals of integrity. He al- 
lowed this materialistic view of life to 
drug his soul. He was impervious to 
the appeal of friendship and of love. 
The Master called the man a fool who 
spent his whole life in acquisition, 
piling up provisions, building barns and 
yet more barns, and who saw nothing 
in life but that. "A man's life con- 
sisteth not in the abundance of the 
things which he possesseth," but in the 
abundance of the things he is alive to! 
What makes music? Materials? 
Then assemble the orchestra. String 
the harp. Tune the violins. Fashion 
clarinet and horn and oboe and kettle 
drum. Place the music racks and 
spread upon them the dotted pages. 
But there is silence, until living musi- 
cians with harmony in their hearts 
impart what they feel within to these 
material instruments, obeying the sway- 
ing baton of their leader. What makes 
art? Materials? Then easel and 



HIS VIEWPOINT 19 

brushes and tubes and palette and 
canvas should be enough. But they 
wait for some presiding genius to rule 
over them with a dominant idea — Rosa 
Bonheur to paint "The Horse Fair," 
Turner to portray a sunset, or Rubens 
to set forth in color the world's su- 
preme sacrifice in "The Descent from 
the Cross." What makes literature? 
Materials? Then fonts of type, print 
paper, and presses are sufficient. But 
the soul of man must breathe on these, 
as we well know. Materials are neces- 
sary, but they are subordinate. The 
spirit must be kept supreme. The 
materialistic view of life is inadequate. 
Above the eyebrows man demands, 
something more. Unless our material 
possessions are transmuted by the 
alchemy of the soul to eternal riches we 
shall be poor indeed. Better rags and 
a crust, with a pure heart that shall see 
God, than soft raiment and spiritual 
blindness. 

The Master also suggests the spiritual 



20 HEAR YE HIM 

viewpoint of life. "What went ye into 
the wilderness for to see? A prophet?" 
The thing that marked John the Bap- 
tist was this spiritual, perceptive quality. 
It was this quality of soul that recog- 
nized Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah 
and proclaimed it while the multitude 
was not yet aware of his presence. It 
was this sensitiveness of soul that could 
see the limits as well as the possibil- 
ities of his own work and led him to 
confess, "He must increase, but I must 
decrease." It was this keen discernment 
of right and wrong that made him the 
messenger of God to his times, de- 
nouncing sin and calling the people to 
repentance. It led him to speak the 
truth without fear of martyrdom. It 
was a characteristic born in prayer and 
nurtured by obedience to the will of God, 
The one who looks at life through the 
eyes of the prophet will find evidences 
of God's presence and power. The 
common day will be filled with an un- 
common glory. Even as the Master 



HIS VIEWPOINT 21 

at Jacob's well found occasion to speak 
of the "well of water springing up into 
everlasting life," and to the disciples, 
returning with provisions for their meal, 
discoursed on a "meat" they knew not 
of, even the doing of the Father's 
will, so the simplest experiences of our 
lives will possess a spiritual significance. 
Charles Frederick Goss has told us, 
in The Redemption of David Corson, 
of a young man who had been taught 
to follow the Spirit's daily tuition. 
Being a Quaker, he believed the soul's 
guidance was in that inner illumination 
which the Spirit of God affords. One 
day in late winter he felt led to go to 
a neighboring lumber camp to preach 
the Word. He went with confident 
faith. But as he approached the place 
he saw no sign of life. What could this 
mean? Perhaps it was a test of faith. 
So he went on. To his dismay, there 
was not a man to be found. There were 
signs that they had recently left, but 
his search was fruitless, his call un- 



22 HEAR YE HIM 

answered. "Does God mock me?" his 
soul cried, and faith and doubt grappled. 
His faith was triumphant, for he rea- 
soned: "It is not for me to question 
this leading. It is God's will. I shall 
fulfill his commission." So he entered 
the largest cabin. He opened the 
service. He prayed, read the Scripture, 
and then preached — preached with all 
the fervor of one who had before him 
eager faces and hungry hearts. At last 
the senseless folly of it swept over him 
like a flood. He stood irresolute. Once 
more doubt and faith struggled. Just 
then a tiny serpent crept across the 
threshold of the open door, and when 
he moved, it paused and thrust out 
its tongue at him. In that moment it 
seemed to David Corson the very 
personification of evil. He hurled his 
Bible at it and left the place in dis- 
gust. He repudiated his former faith. 
He went out to live in prodigality and 
sin. Years went by. Then one night 
he was drifting down the Bowery when 



HIS VIEWPOINT 23 

he heard the strident voice of a street 
preacher who held a little book aloft 
and called the men about him to come 
and hear its story. "Years ago," he 
said, "I was a lumberman out West. 
On a certain Sunday morning we broke 
camp. We had gone some distance 
when I discovered my ax had been left 
at the camp. So I retraced my steps. 
But as I got near the camp I heard 
the voice of some one in prayer. It 
was the prayer of a man who was face 
to face with God. Then the Scripture 
was read and it was about God's love 
for men. As I listened the voice be- 
gan to plead for men to leave their 
sins and accept the salvation God had 
provided. I was smitten with convic- 
tion for my sins. I ran from the place. 
I fell on my knees in a thicket of brush 
and asked God's forgiveness. He heard 
my prayer and saved my soul. Then I 
hurried back to the camp to see who 
it was that brought the message to me, 
but there was no one there. Every- 



24 HEAR YE HIM 

thing was just as we left it, except that 
I found this little book lying on the 
floor." All the time David Corson was 
straining forward to catch each word 
of the recital. He" recognized the story 
of that tragic morning in his own life. 
He now saw that God had led him to 
the camp that morning and that his 
message had saved a soul. He pressed 
through the crowd and made his con- 
fession. He claimed his book, and he 
claimed again his Christ. 

The leading of the Spirit is reliable. 
To obey is better than burnt offering. 
Untold possibilities of service open to 
the one who is looking for God and 
covets a chance to render some service 
for him. Do not let the heart grow 
hard with a fatalistic outlook upon life. 
Do not permit it to become sordid in 
the worship of possessions. Keep it 
mellow with prayer, tender with love, 
gracious and generous in sympathy, and 
as beautiful and holy as a temple of 
God. 



II 

HIS AUTHORITY 

"We know that thou art a teacher 
come from God." — John 3. 2. 



II 

HIS AUTHORITY 

Jesus did not carry a diploma from 
a great university. He had no license 
to preach from the church of his time. 
He had not been ordained with im- 
pressive ceremony before a vast assem- 
bly. His induction to public life was 
not anticipated nor applauded by men. 
But he was not without credentials. 
They were found in his character and 
service. They were so convincing as 
to elicit these words from a member of 
the Sanhedrim "We know that thou 
art a teacher come from God." 

The impressive item in this tribute is 
not that Jesus was called a teacher, 
but that his authority was recognized. 
When men beheld the wonderful work 
of his ministry, they asked, "By what 
authority doest thou these things?" 
27 



28 HEAR YE HIM 

They did not doubt that back of him 
was some authority. 

To feel divinely commissioned to a 
task has ever been a strengthening con- 
sciousness. With the conviction of 
God's leadership and appointment, men 
have dared to face prejudice and hos- 
tility and criticism with a tranquil faith. 
It was this belief in God's command 
that guerdoned the soul of Moses and 
made it possible for him to brave the 
opposition of Pharaoh's court, demand- 
ing, "Let my people go." The note 
that thrilled Europe with religious fer- 
vor and sent crusade after crusade to 
the Holy Land to wrest the tomb of 
Christ from the hand of the infidel 
was Peter the Hermit's daring challenge, 
"God wills it." This sense of divine 
authority and its disclosure of power is 
set forth by Macaulay in his descrip- 
tion of "the Puritans": "On the rich 
and the eloquent, on nobles and priests, 
they looked down with contempt; for 
they esteemed themselves rich in a more 



HIS AUTHORITY 29 

precious treasure, and eloquent in a 
more sublime language; nobles by the 
right of an earlier creation and priests 
by the imposition of a mightier hand." 
In early American history Ethan Allen, 
with a few colonials, burst in upon the 
commanding officer of Fort Ticonderoga 
with a demand for its immediate sur- 
render. "By what authority?" asked 
the startled officer; and back came the 
answer, "By the authority of Almighty 
God and the Continental Congress." 

Authority is an offensive thing when 
used in an authoritative manner. The 
modern mind must - be convinced that it 
is real. Power always carries the possi- 
bility of danger as well as usefulness. 
Some show their power in such a way 
that men instinctively are hostile. Some 
use it so persuasively that obedience 
and cooperation are yielded without a 
moment's hesitation. The authority of 
privilege and tradition is disappearing. 
The authority of truth, virtue, righteous- 
ness, and justice is in the ascendancy. 



30 HEAR YE HIM 

This is another way of saying that 
the authority of Jesus and the spiritual 
realm is being increasingly recognized 
among men. The study of this subject 
is interestingly set forth in such a 
treatise as James Martineau's The Seat 
of Authority in Religion or Sabatier's 
Religions of Authority. The significant 
fact in these books is that after sur- 
veying the field they turn to Jesus 
Christ as the authentic revelation of 
God to the souls of men, the final 
word in religious authority. 

When John the Baptist had been 
thrown into prison and suffered a re- 
action of faith, he sent two of his 
disciples to Jesus saying, "Art thou he 
that should come? or look we for 
another?" This rugged prophet of the 
wilderness, who had made the waste 
places populous beoause he dared to 
proclaim the truth, this man of God 
who had seen the heavens open at the 
Jordan and heard a voice in benedic- 
tion upon the teacher from the Galilaean 



HIS AUTHORITY 31 

hills, now requests the credentials of 
Christ. The incident has its counter- 
part to-day. Many are asking anew a 
reason for the hope that is in them. 
They fluctuate between hope and de- 
spair. They are torn by expectation 
and uncertainty. They believe that 
Jesus is the One who was to come, but 
wonder why he does not lay bare his 
arm and straighten out the irregularities 
and injustices of our time. In a day 
when people have felt a relaxation in 
the authority of the church and the 
Bible there is need to build into private 
devotion and into the public conscience 
the authority of Jesus. Upon what does 
it rest? How can men be led from the 
questioning mood of John to the affirma- 
tion and confidence of Nicodemus — 
"We know that thou art a teacher 
come from God"? 

His authority is detected in his con- 
sciousness. It was a profound convic- 
tion with Jesus. What Nicodemus 
discovered this Nazarene knew. He 



32 HEAR YE HIM 

considered himself divinely sent to ful- 
fill a mission. There are many expres- 
sions of it. The Gospel of John reveals 
this profusely. Here are a few gathered 
at random: "My meat is to do the 
will of him that sent me"; "I seek not 
mine own will, but the will of the 
Father which hath sent me"; "I must 
work the works of him that sent me"; 
"Because of the people which stand by 
I said it, that they may believe that 
thou hast sent me"; "This is life eternal, 
that they might know thee, the only 
true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou 
hast sent"; "As my Father hath sent 
me, even so send I you." These are a 
few utterances caught from the lips of 
Christ revealing the definite conviction 
that his authority was God-given. 

But have not other great teachers 
believed themselves inspired? Are there 
not times when each devout soul feels 
the divine commission for utterance or 
service? Doubtless, but these occasions 
are temporary and partial. Man feels 



HIS AUTHORITY 33 

the incompleteness and inadequacy of 
what he does. We cannot tell when 
we are being used most effectively by 
God. There is always an unsatisfied 
yearning for greater achievements. We 
are hampered by limitations. But 
nothing of this is shown in the con- 
sciousness of Jesus. He had no sense 
of failure. From the hour he said, "I 
must be about my Father's business' ' 
till on the cross he succumbed with the 
words, "It is finished," there is an 
unhesitating procedure that fulfills the 
Father's will. He believed he had 
accomplished his mission: "I have 
finished the work which thou gavest 
me to do." The student of psychology 
cannot detect a single note of in- 
sufficiency or incompleteness in the con- 
sciousness of Jesus. We are overawed 
by the authority and finality with 
which he spoke and worked. 

His authority is discovered in Ms 
teachings. Those who heard him speak 
felt this. "He taught them as one 



34 HEAR YE HIM 

having authority, and not as the 
scribes." He did not hark back to 
former revelations of truth, for he had 
one fresh and new. His manner was 
engaging, his voice resonant, his per- 
sonality and message compelling. But 
his authority over men was no mere 
concession to him because of charm or 
sympathy. The world feels that au- 
thority now, as then, because there has 
never been anything said that is ethi- 
cally finer or more convincing to the 
moral sense of mankind than the golden 
rule, the sermon on the mount, or 
the new commandment. As long as no 
higher ideals are set forth by modern 
teachers it will be incumbent upon us 
to be serious about those that Jesus 
set forth. They cannot be dismissed 
as "impractical" until they have been 
honestly tried by individuals and na- 
tions. 

Authority is given to any teacher 
who understands the human heart so 
perfectly that its longings can be given 



HIS AUTHORITY 35 

utterance. Such language becomes liter- 
ature. It comes from life and has the 
power to inspire life. It visualizes con- 
duct. It spreads the contagion of a 
noble truth. It becomes the voice of 
the times. When President Wilson said, 
"The world must be made safe for 
democracy," he lifted world issues out 
of the heat and confusion of battle- 
fields and cleared the minds of men 
by expressing succinctly what the na- 
tions were fighting for. When Pres- 
ident Lincoln wrote the Emancipation 
Proclamation, it v/as the expression of 
a well-defined conviction in the minds 
of men: hence the approval of the 
ages. We are told that Shakespeare 
gathered up and perfected the plots of 
others, that Burns gave utterance to the 
folk lore of Scotland. Each breathed 
upon this material the life-giving power 
of genius. In a truer manner the teach- 
ings of Jesus express what is noblest and 
best in the human heart. They appeal 
to the ethical sense of mankind. He 



36 HEAR YE HIM 

became the voice of God to men for 
his time and for all time. What he 
taught is universal in its meaning and 
value. It is God's revelation, including 
continents and centuries in its scope. 

There is no higher revelation of God 
than as the heavenly Father. An early 
writer dimly suggested the idea when 
he said, "Like as a father pitieth his 
children, so the Lord pitieth them that 
fear him." But it was given to Jesus 
to see this truth in its fullness and 
teach men to say, "Our Father who 
art in heaven." There has been a 
variety of notions about sin. Elbert 
Hubbard said it was "misdirected 
energy," Reginald Campbell called it 
"a blundering quest toward God," Mary 
Baker Eddy described it as "an error 
of mortal mind," and multitudes think 
of it as a "mistake." Jesus used one 
word to describe the soul in sin — 
"lost." It is impossible to excel that 
descriptive word. It is conclusive. The 
tragedy it suggests has power to stir 



HIS AUTHORITY 37 

the soul. Concerning salvation Jesus 
used no paragraphs of argument, just 
one word — "life." "I am come that 
ye might have life, and that ye might 
have it more abundantly." A modern 
teacher has told us," "Salvation in 
terms agreeable to modern thinkin is 
the fitting and permanent adjustment 
of a human soul to the divine order 
that envelops all life: the soul that 
has found such adjustment is saved 
here and hereafter; no other is." This 
is only the scientific way of expressing 
Jesus's idea of that important matter. 
"This is life eternal, to know thee the 
only true God and Jesus Christ whom 
thou hast sent." 

His authority is also declared by his 
superlative character. No man ever lived 
as he lived. He is supreme in this 
realm. He compels attention and obe- 
dience by his perfection. 

When the physician enters the house- 
hold and orders changes in the habits 
of the family, rearranges the furniture, 



38 HEAR YE HIM 

and prescribes what shall be done, his 
orders are obeyed because the mem- 
bers of the home know that his measures 
represent the authority of superior in- 
formation and are meant to save a 
loved one's life. When the ocean liner 
approaches the harbor, the captain, who 
has been master of the ship, yields his 
authority to the pilot, because the pilot 
represents a superior intelligence as to 
tides and winds and shores and shoals. 
The army officer has been obeyed by 
the recruits because he possessed the 
knowledge they desired to acquire. The 
civilian population has accepted the 
rules of food conservation because they 
recognized in Mr. Hoover a specialist 
in his knowledge of world markets and 
world need. Some have a genius for 
art, for music, for politics, for business. 
Jesus has a genius for spiritual truth. 
It is so personal and intimate in its 
knowledge of devotion and duty and 
destiny that every hidden portion of 
the soul's life is reached. It is so wide 



HIS AUTHORITY 39 

in its social implications that all the 
race is included. His character is so 
compelling in its ideals, so attractive in 
its beauty, so convincing in its sin- 
cerity that we cry, "My Lord and my 
God." 

Lepeau became interested in starting 
a new religion. With conscientious care 
he elaborated a system of ethics which 
he called "theophilanthropy." He at- 
tempted to propagate it. It did not 
meet with the hearty reception he had 
anticipated for it. In his disappoint- 
ment he came to Talleyrand and asked 
the great churchman for an explanation 
of men's reluctance to receive the truth. 
"I am not surprised," said Talleyrand. 
"It is not an easy thing to introduce a 
new religion. But there is one thing I 
would advise you to do, and then per- 
haps you will be successful. Go about 
working miracles, then be crucified and 
buried, and come forth from the tomb 
and work some more miracles. Then 
you may be successful." 



40 HEAR YE HIM 

Robert Browning has preserved for 
us the story of how "Charles Lamb, in 
a gay fancy with some friends as to 
how he and they would feel if the 
greatest of the dead were to appear 
suddenly in flesh and blood once more, 
on the final suggestion, 'And if Christ 
entered this room?' changed his manner 
at once and stuttered out, as his manner 
was when moved, 'You see, if Shake- 
speare entered we should all rise; if He 
appeared, we must kneel. 5 ' 

In the opinion of that Christian poet 
Richard Watson Gilder, the superlative 
character of Jesus is such in its com- 
pelling authority as to make even the 
heathen cry out: 

"If Jesus Christ is a man, 
And only a man, I say 
That of all mankind I will cleave to him, 
And to him will I cleave alway. 

"If Jesus Christ is a God, 

And the only God, I swear, 
I will follow him through heaven and hell, 
The earth, the sea, the air." 



ni 

HIS LAW 

"Bear ye one another's burdens, and 
so fulfill the law of Christ." — Galatians 

6. 2. 



Ill 

HIS LAW 

Surely the great apostle was care- 
less in his speech. We have heard of 
the love of Christ, the mercy of Christ, 
the compassion of Christ, the humil- 
iation of Christ — but the law of Christ! 
The law belongs to the Old Testament, 
not the New; it speaks of Sinai, not 
Hermon; its background is the San- 
hedrin, not the upper room; it deals 
with the garden of Eden, not the 
garden of Gethsemane. We think of 
the law in terms of the courtroom and 
public trial, but our Master walked the 
open road under an open sky. The 
law suggests stern authority, while he 
was the personification of tenderness. 
The scales of justice and an unemotional 
verdict are associated with law, whereas 
Jesus tempered each opinion with a 



44 HEAR YE HIM 

margin of consideration and found good 
in people where others failed to detect 
it. Surely, Paul made a mistake when 
he referred to the "law of Christ/ 5 

But what did he say? "Bear ye one 
another's burdens, and so fulfil the law 
of Christ." Now it is plain. Here is 
a "morn risen on high noon." The 
law of Christ is something ethically 
finer than flaming sword or thundering 
Sinai. It is higher than code or statute 
book. It is the rule of a nobler king- 
dom than ever before claimed the 
allegiance of man. 

There are several ways of looking 
at the law. 

Law is force. We think of it as 
inherent energy. We speak of the law 
of gravitation, by which we mean a 
mysterious power that operates every- 
where. The law of growth or of mo- 
tion suggests an operating force. It 
is interesting to know that this was the 
old Hebrew conception of the law of 
God. The Decalogue and all cere- 



HIS LAW 45 

monial requirements of the temple were 
associated with this idea. The Hebrews 
believed that to repeat passage after 
passage of the Torah left a deposit of 
moral energy upon the heart of the 
faithful Jew. "The power of God unto 
salvation," which we identify with the 
gospel of Christ, they identified with 
the law. 

Law is uniformity of action, or a 
mode of procedure. Given certain 
chemical combinations, and the same 
results will appear. They will come 
right for an amateur or an expert if the 
law is followed. There is nothing par- 
tial about it. They work for anybody, 
anywhere. A spray of gasolene and 
an electric spark will cause an explosion 
and drive a piston. That ignition may 
be expected in any gasolene engine. 
It always works. It will work for the 
farmer who wants water pumped for 
his stock, drive an automobile along 
a country road or city street, and lift 
an airplane into the sky. Concrete 



46 HEAR YE HIM 

and sand form a chemical combination 
that solidifies, and this was as true 
when they built the Roman Pantheon 
as when they laid your front walk. 
The effect of light upon nitrate of silver 
represents a uniformity of action which 
makes photography possible. 

Law is a standard of conduct. It 
holds before us an ethical ideal. It 
compels obedience by approving the 
right and punishing the wrong. Stat- 
utes are crystallized public opinion. 
Sometimes they are faulty, but they 
represent the expression of standards 
which the people have accepted. The 
law of God demands more. It excites 
our interest and desire, and when we 
fail to reach its standards it lays upon 
the conscience a sense of failure and 
humiliation. "The law of the Lord is 
perfect, converting the soul," when 
there is perfect obedience. 

How do these ideas of the law apply 
to the law of Christ? His law is to 
bear burdens! That was the strange 



HIS LAW 47 

power that drove him from the car- 
penter shop into the crowds of toiling 
men everywhere! That was the mode 
of procedure you might expect as soon 
as he came to town. Burden-bearing 
was the habit of his life! That was 
the standard by which he worked, the 
measure of each day's value, the type 
of disposition he left a sin-cursed world ! 
The law as a power, as uniformity of 
action, and as an ideal of conduct is 
all compacted into this one statement 
of the law of Christ: "Bear ye one 
another's burdens." 

One summer day our children had 
a happy half hour with a drop of water 
on a nasturtium leaf. Is there a name 
for a jewel as fair as that? See how 
the glory of earth and heaven con- 
tributed to it. Here the leaf — an ex- 
pression of the soil beneath it, soil 
prepared by the glacial period with 
its ice plow, the centuries and their 
slow disintegration of rock, the strange 
processes of chemistry by which fer- 



48 HEAR YE HIM 

tility comes, the soil broken and mellow 
in readiness for the seed. And here 
the drop of water. The glory of the 
sky was on it, for out of the sky it 
came, a creature of the summer, a 
visitant made possible because a planet 
turned over in the sun. That sparkling 
gem, in its green velvet setting, held 
the glory of the heavens above and 
the earth beneath. Likewise all the 
majesty of the ancient law and the 
might of the modern gospel, all the 
heartbreak of earth and the rapture of 
heaven, the black tragedy of man's 
sin and the white glory of Christ's 
perfect life are radiant in this jewel 
of Scripture, "Bear ye one another's 
burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." 
That quality marked him for great- 
ness in earth's Hall of Fame. It were 
sufficient to commend his candidacy for 
immortality among the immortals of 
earth when we learn he saw man 
staggering and fainting on the dusty 
highway of life and came near, saying, 



HIS LAW 49 

"Here, brother, let me help you with 
your load." From that hour pilgrims 
have kept watching to see if they 
might have his company. Some have 
stood at their cottage door to welcome 
him if perchance he passed by. Up 
and down the highway of life he travels, 
speaking to all he meets. Sometimes 
folks answer and sometimes they fail 
to recognize him. He stoops to pick 
up the babies that fall and kisses away 
their tears as he tells them, "Try 
again." He comes alongside the aged 
who totter with feeble steps, and as 
he guides them to where the path is 
smoother he says, "Be of good cheer; 
the traveling is better farther on!" 
He meets the "self-sufficient" man, and 
as he looks into that heart almost 
crushed he confides to him: "Let me 
be your friend. I understand!" He 
stops at a door where a bit of ribbon 
flutters in the wind, and here he finds 
a family weeping, and as they try to 
speak he assures them, "Yes, I heard 



50 HEAR YE HIM 

of it and that is why I came. I will 
go with you to the cemetery. I will 
stay with you. Cast all your cares on 
me." He visits one night at a house 
where a light is burning at a window — 
a bright white light. He finds a man 
and woman bowed down with anxiety 
and weary with waiting. They tell him 
of a prodigal child who is far away in 
a house where a red light burns, and 
they want their darling back with 
them in the shelter of the white light. 
The story is told with tears and anguish. 
And he says, "Dear hearts, it is a 
pitiful story. I will go at once and 
see if I can find your child!" O, thou 
burden-bearing Christ, how good it was 
in you to come all the way from heaven 
to help us with our loads! How tragic 
life would be without you for a friend! 
Are you tired? "Come unto me, all 
ye that labor and are heavy laden, and 
I will give you rest." Can we help 
you to help the world? "Do unto 
others as I have done unto you." 



HIS LAW 51 

"Bear ye one another's burdens, and 
so fulfill the law of Christ." 

When you take burden-bearing as the 
law of Christ and the law of your life, 
see how it works out in the directions 
that have been indicated. We retrace 
our steps, and this is what we find. 
Burden-bearing is an energy that breaks 
the spell of selfishness. Sin is selfish- 
ness. Many of our crosses are of our 
own making; our wills lie athwart the 
will of God. "There is one black spot 
in every man's sunshine — the shadow of 
himself," said Carlyle. We live in the 
consciousness of that black spot and 
see it grow larger as we travel from 
the light. What can change our course? 
The law of Christ. Bear somebody's 
burden and you will forget about your- 
self. The joy of service will quicken 
every noble impulse. When subtle or 
sudden temptations leer upon you, 
when the will seems paralyzed with 
indecision, this law of Christ will save 
you from that mood. Try it. Seek 



52 HEAR YE HIM 

escape from your own vexations by help- 
ing some one else with his burdens, 
and you will be surprised at the spir- 
itual power and victory which comes 
into your life. 

Burden-bearing is also a mode of 
procedure into growth and greatness of 
soul. Suppose you take this law of 
Christ as the law of your life. You 
deliberately adopt this program of help- 
fulness. You take responsibility. At 
once the muscles of your moral nature 
increase in strength. There is some- 
thing inevitably enlarging and ennobling 
in the process. Who are the great of 
earth? They are the burden-bearers. 
That is why your mother was so won- 
derful. She took burden after burden 
upon her heart. She did not take a 
vacation, or ask for an eight-hour day, 
or complain of her wages. She grew 
great by serving others. The Red 
Cross and the Red Triangle, the relief 
corps and the generous-hearted who 
have made their work possible, out 



HIS LAW 53 

there where men have suffered "on the 
hellish rim of war's red line," have now 
imperishable glory because they were 
fulfilling this law of Christ. This is 
an open and unfrequented path to 
greatness. Sins will not defeat or 
doubts disturb us if we keep close to 
the burden-bearing side of Christian 
discipleship. 

We shall see too that it is the stand- 
ard for conduct when the Master has 
his way in the world. Then 

"Shall all men's good 
Be each man's rule, and universal peace 
Lie like a shaft of light across the land, 
And like a lane of beams athwart the sea, 
Through all the circle of the golden year." 



IV 

HIS SPIRIT 

"If any man have not the spirit of 
Christ, he is none of his." — Romans 8. 9. 



IV 

HIS SPIRIT 

There is a story of a family who 
built a house. Into it had gone their 
loving interest. The arrangement of 
rooms and decorations had been a 
matter of discussion in the home circle. 
In due time they moved in. Now it 
was their happy thought that a good 
way to mark their new home as Chris- 
tian would be to install in it a little 
altar that would thus act as a symbol 
of their religious faith. So one was 
prepared. It was fashioned beautifully 
of scented wood. It was only a small 
piece of furniture, but its significance 
was great. The question arose as to 
where it should be most appropriately 
located. The husband argued it should 
be in the library or music room, for in 
this realm of intellect and sentiment 
57 



58 HEAR YE HIM 

this symbol of religion certainly be- 
longed. The son of the house, being a 
young man who was jealous for the 
reputation of the household, declared it 
should be in the reception room — "So 
that everybody can see it when they 
come in." The mother, with a whim- 
sical smile, expressed the opinion that 
it ought to be in the kitchen, for, said 
she, "That is where most of my troubles 
are." They could not agree. The de- 
bate grew acrimonious. Then it was 
decided that the whole question should 
be left to the little daughter of the 
household. They found her in the 
living-room before the open grate watch- 
ing the flames as they danced in strange, 
fantastic shapes. They placed in her 
hands the little altar of scented wood 
and told her she might do anything 
she liked with it. "Anything?" she 
inquired. "Yes, put it wherever you 
want it to go," they replied. And 
then she threw it on the dying embers 
of the grate. At once the flames en- 



HIS SPIRIT 59 

circled it and it was consumed. But 
as it disappeared in the fire its fragrance 
filled every room of the house. 

Sacraments, altars, organizations, 
churches have grown out of Christian- 
ity. They have their place. But they 
are external. The essence of the Chris- 
tian life is found within. Paul expressed 
it: "If any man have not the spirit 
of Christ he is none of his." That is 
the irreducible minimum of Christian 
living. It also expresses a possible max- 
imum of Christian character. The 
novice can show forth the spirit of 
Christ. The saint cannot do more. 
It is a matter of disposition. Baptism 
and church membership are important, 
but are no substitutes for the spirit 
of Christ. Forms and ordinances and 
ritual may perish in the fires of perse- 
cution, but the spirit of Christ escapes 
the flames. It is the fragrance of the 
altar that fills the house, the emanation 
and pervasion of his life that makes 
conquest of the world. 



60 HEAR YE HIM 

How can we be like Christ? None 
imagine the way is to imitate him in 
the use of flowing robes and sandals 
and turban. "The letter killeth, but 
the spirit giveth life." "O God, we 
have seen in Jesus Christ and in some 
people we know the kind of a life we 
want to live. 55 Thus Maltbie D. Bab- 
cock once prayed before the congrega- 
tion of the Brick Church in New 
York city. 

A blind man went into a store. He 
made a slight purchase and asked a 
question or two. Before he left he 
said to the merchant, "You must be 
a Christian. " 

"What makes you think so? 55 asked 
the merchant. 

"I can feel it/ 5 he replied. "You 
have taken an interest in me and 
shown such courtesy and kindness that 
I am led to think it is something more 
than pity for my misfortune." 

It is a recommendation when the 
spirit of Christ appears in conversation 



HIS SPIRIT 61 

and conduct so definitely that the blind 
can see. 

The spirit that controls us makes vice 
or virtue of our aims and emotions. 
The temper in which a thing is done 
or said gives it meaning. That is why 
the "Virginian" faced Trampas, when 
he was called an unmentionable name 
with "When you say that, smile!" 
Call a man a hypocrite: if it is done 
vindictively he will fight; if good- 
naturedly, it passes for a joke. The 
desire to get even with some one may 
take the direction of revenge or kind- 
ness — it depends on what is working 
in the heart. Self-forgetfulness may be- 
come recklessness or sacrifice. To be 
a Christian is to allow the spirit of 
Christ to dominate your life. It is 
the melody that runs through the 
musical score — not the staff and notes. 

How shall we define the spirit of 
Christ? It is not easy to put into 
the compass of human speech the 
description of a thing so essentially 



62 HEAR YE HIM 

spiritual. The river flows through 
rocky gorges and across fertile low- 
lands. Surrounded by flowers and 
ferns, it winds its sinewy course, re- 
flecting from its bosom blue sky and 
passing clouds, starlight and vagrant 
shadow; but we have not explained 
the mysterious law of gravitation that 
pulls the waters ever onward to the 
sea. We place our spectroscope in the 
path of the sunlight and untangle the 
colors that are twisted in a shaft of 
light, and by the analysis discover the 
substance of which the sun is made; 
but we cannot explain its strange power 
to color the grass green, the harvest 
field yellow, make the rose red and 
cause the peach to blush with juicy 
ripeness, nor can we explain its visit 
to the vineyard where the miracle of 
Cana is reproduced as fluent sap is 
poured into purple wine skins. If we 
cannot describe the mysterious forces 
of nature with satisfaction, how shall 
we speak of the things of the Spirit? 



HIS SPIRIT 63 

There are certain elements of char- 
acter we see in Jesus that are insep- 
arable from his spirit. He always 
pleased the heavenly Father. "I do 
always those things that please him/' 
he said. Once on the mountain top 
and once in the valley there was a 
witness to this fact: "This is my be- 
loved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 
We might designate as his life motto 
those words, "I come to do thy will, 
O God." His spirit too was one of 
redemptive desire. Whether he con- 
templated the whole task and felt the 
divine urgency in the fact that "God 
so loved the world"; or his heart went 
out to the nation that had been the 
custodian of God's message to men and 
he cries, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, . . . 
how often would I have gathered thy 
children together, . . . and ye would 
not"; or his interest in an alien province 
impressed his followers in such a way 
that it is recorded, "He must needs 
go through Samaria"; or, as his eye 



64 HEAR YE HIM 

swept over the throng, and he "had 
compassion on the multitudes"; or his 
love went out to a single individual 
as to that young man who "came run- 
ning/' but "went away sorrowful"; it 
was always the same impelling anxiety 
to impart spiritual help to those who 
had need. "Keep alive your evan- 
gelistic desires," said a wise editor to 
a young preacher, and the preacher 
has found that evangelistic methods 
are no problem if the desires are kept 
aglow. Sacrifice was his also, rendering 
for sinful humanity "the last full meas- 
ure of devotion." 

Now and then in some great 
emergency men have arisen to the 
nobility of a Christlike deed. There 
are seasons and experiences when the 
example of his personality is more 
potent and stimulating than at other 
times and occasions. Our problem is 
to make this periodical impulse the 
fixed habit of life. In the "Idylls of 
the King" you will find these lines: 



HIS SPIRIT 65 

"But when he spake and cheer'd his Table Round 
With large divine and comfortable words 
Beyond my tongue to tell thee — I beheld 
From eye to eye thro' all their Order flash 
A momentary likeness of the King." 

But ours is a nobler King than Arthur 
and bent on holier conquests. What 
he asks of his followers is not a mo- 
mentary but constant likeness to 
their Leader. "He that saith he abideth 
in him ought himself also so to walk, 
even as he walked." 

Has the spirit of Christ been manifest 
in our day? Does the fragrance of 
the altar fill the world? 

"Speak, History! who are life's victors? 
Unroll thy long annals and say — 
Are they those whom the world calls the victors, 
Who won the success of a day? 
The martyrs or Nero? The Spartans 
Who fell at Thermopylae's tryst, 
Or the Persians or Xerxes? 

His judges or Socrates? 

Pilate or Christ?" 

It is an old struggle, but it has 



66 HEAR YE HIM 

assumed dramatic proportions in our 
time. Shakespeare makes Brutus say 
as his enemies close in, "0 Julius 
Caesar, thou art mighty yet! Thy 
spirit walks abroad. 5 ' And the spirit 
of Rome has persisted through the 
centuries. "Mighty yet" we have been 
compelled to confess as we have seen 
the mailed fist of empire bludgeon its 
way across Europe. What has struck 
the scepter of power from that mailed 
fist? The pierced palm of Christ! 
Christ's spirit walks abroad in the 
world to-day, and that spirit is mightier 
yet! The triumph of the Master is 
set forth in striking terms by P. Whit- 
well Wilson: 

". . . An attorney from Wales called 
David Lloyd George, a journalist in 
Paris called Georges Clemenceau, and a 
college professor called Woodrow Wilson 
ordered the Kaiser from his throne. 
The Kaiser obeyed, and his throne is 
vacant. As the Virgin Mary sang, 
when she awaited her first Christmas: 



HIS SPIRIT 67 

'He hath put down the mighty from 
their seats, and exalted them of low 
degree.' You and I — common folk — ■ 
alone remain to rule the world. ONE 
is our Master, even Christ: and in the 
era, new-born of blood and tears, we 
sing with a new emphasis: 

" 'Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet; 
Lest we forget — lest we forget.' " 



V 

HIS WORDS 

"If a man love me, he will keep my 
words."— John U. 23. 



V 
HIS WORDS 

Jesus attached great importance to 
his words. He said, "Heaven and earth 
shall pass away, but my words shall 
not pass away"; "If ye abide in me, 
and my words abide in you, ye shall 
ask what ye will, and it shall be done 
unto you." His words represent a place 
of security and a promise of power. 

President Eliot startled the educa- 
tional world a few years ago by de- 
claring that on a five-foot shelf could 
be gathered the books of wisdom from 
the world's literature sufficient for a 
liberal education. He was asked to 
name the books. This he did after some 
deliberation. They were selected from 
the academic standpoint. They were 
taken from classic literature and interest 
71 



72 HEAR YE HIM 

the literary mind. But the Bible is 
not named among them. 

Over against this five-foot shelf of 
books one may place a little volume 
entitled My Words. It is not as big 
as a man's hand. It contains a com- 
pilation of the sayings of Jesus. They 
are arranged in chronological order. 
They are complete in this tiny volume. 
Yet for cogency and constructive power 
in human society, for a concise yet com- 
prehensive statement of the highest 
ethical ideals the race has known they 
are unsurpassed in any literature. They 
form but a small proportion of the 
Scripture, but the Bible would have 
no meaning without them. The Chris- 
tian literature of the ages which has 
grown up around the unfolding life of 
the church is massive beyond belief. 
The record of achievement, the annals 
of conquest, the accounts of councils, 
the books of devotion would fill libra- 
ries unnumbered. Yet all of these are 
of comparative unimportance beside 



HIS WORDS 73 

this diminutive but dynamic little book 
entitled My Words. 

The other day a big, brawny woods- 
man came out of the north country. 
As he entered the church office he 
pulled from his pocket a newly pur- 
chased Bible. "I wonder ef you kin 
find me a passage of Scripture," he 
said, as he handed the book to me. 
Then he told his story. For years he 
had been adrift in the world. A col- 
porteur had left some copies of one 
of the Gospels in the camp. He had 
idly opened one of them. What he 
read stirred his heart. It awakened 
memories of religious training in his 
youth. Conviction for sin had settled 
on his soul. He tried to pray. Then 
there came to him the dim remembrance 
of a passage of Scripture which taught 
"thet a feller can't be right with God 
onless he's right with his feller man." 
He hinted at a great wrong done an- 
other years ago in an Eastern city. 
So I read him several passages and he 



74 HEAR YE HIM 

listened eagerly. Then this, "If thou 
bring thy gift to the altar, and there 
rememberest that thy brother hath 
aught against thee; leave there thy 
gift before the altar, and go thy way; 
first be reconciled to thy brother, and 
then come and offer thy gift." "Thet's 
it," he said. "I'll start for New York 
to-night an' see ef I kin fix it up. I 
sure want to git right with God." 

"How do you know the Bible is 
inspired?" some one asked Spurgeon, 
and he answered, "Because it inspires 
me." Millions through the centuries 
have this evidence. The Master said, 
"The words I speak unto you, they are 
spirit, and they are life." 

Any study of Christianity embraces 
an examination of the Master's teach- 
ing. His words are so profound that 
they challenge scholarship, and so prac- 
tical that they light the path of the 
humblest seekers for truth. Let us 
consider the Master's method and mood. 

The charm of his method is that he 



HIS WORDS 75 

was without method. He did not open 
a school. He did not build an academy 
of learning. No students were enrolled 
for specially prescribed courses of study. 
His teachings appear to be incidental, 
because they were uttered in such un- 
expected ways and places. His pulpit? 
A well-curb, a boat, a mountainside, a 
housetop would do. His text? It was 
taken from a farmer sowing grain, from 
fishermen drawing in their nets, the 
flowers, the wind, the birds. His audi- 
ence might be a woman with a pitcher 
at the well, a hungry rabble clamoring 
for bread, a funeral cortege, the throng 
at the temple, or that inner circle of 
disciples who hung upon his words. 
There was nothing prearranged or arti- 
ficial in his ministry. 

Jesus did not write any of his 
words. His philosophy was never sys- 
tematized for propaganda purposes. 
His truth was not printed in pamphlet 
form. There is only one incident in 
which he wrote. Then it was upon 



76 HEAR YE HIM 

the sand, symbol of the changing 
earth, a message to be soon blurred by 
passing feet and blown into oblivion 
by the winds. What he wrote that 
day we do not know* His words were 
spoken. How easy it was for them to 
get away. A spoken word! An air 
wave, a momentary vibration of vocal 
cords and ear drum, an unseen com- 
munication of soul with soul! Yet 
those spoken words fell on the multi- 
tudes like rain after drought, on the 
returning prodigal honey-sweet with 
welcome, on enemies like merciless 
shrapnel flung from a tense soul, on 
sorrow weeping alone like a path of 
light out of the darkness, on disheart- 
ened selfish humanity like an angel's 
song of peace and good will. He 
trusted the truth to find its way to 
the heart and conscience. He knew it 
would be remembered and repeated. 

His mood was as wonderful as his 
manner. He confidently expected the 
triumph of the truth. He based his 



HIS WORDS 77 

kingdom on it. It was to be the under- 
girding of life. Nothing fleeting or 
false would do. He did not teach as 
a newspaper reporter furnishes "copy"! 
There was always an occasion arising 
out of human need for his utterances. 
His sayings are not true because they 
are in the Bible, but are in the Bible 
because they are true. All of hu- 
manity and all of coming history was 
involved, and so nothing but the un- 
changing, perpetual challenge of the 
great simplicities, which are also the 
great sublimities of the soul, found 
utterance in him. His words search 
the individual and society. Their super- 
lative worth makes them conclusive 
and convincing. They furnish the 
stabilizing power which shall keep 
the forces of destruction in abeyance. 
There is the guarantee of social order 
and a permanent peace for the world 
in his law of relationship, which is 
brotherhood; his law of justice, which 
is the Golden Rule; his law of posses- 



78 HEAR YE HIM 

sion, which is stewardship; his law of 
greatness, which is service; his law of 
forgiveness, which is love. The words 
of Christ have been printed in every 
language and dialect. They appear on 
the walls of legislative halls. They are 
seen over the doors of temples. They 
have been set to music in wonderful 
oratorios. They have furnished the 
inspiration for poets and painters and 
prophets. More important than all this 
they are being translated increasingly 
to character and service. 

Among the specious opinions of the 
man on the street is this: "It makes 
no difference what we believe. It is 
only actions that count. 55 What cur- 
rency it has had! It is a ruinous 
rumor. It is a subtle attack on the 
church. It is a polite refusal to accept 
a creed for conduct. No difference? 
It makes every difference in the world 
what a man believes. "As a man think- 
eth in his heart so is he. 55 The fallacy 
of that philosophy has been exploded 



HIS WORDS 79 

in the war. German frightfulness was 
the direct expression of German teach- 
ing and German thought. A nation 
acts according to its ideals. So does 
the individual. Character is con- 
structed by creeds. We cannot escape 
the formulation of the truth. If a man 
says, "I have no creed/ 5 that is his 
creed. Actions are thoughts made 
visible. It is at this source of conduct 
that Jesus renders his ministry to hu- 
man life. Obedience is a sign of love: 
"If a man love me, he will keep my 
words. 55 What the world needs is the 
gracious imposition of the mind of 
Christ, the words of Jesus, the ideals 
of the Master. Renovation and re- 
demption for society lie in that di- 
rection. 

No cause can succeed that is founded 
on error. "Every plant, which my 
heavenly Father hath not planted, shall 
be rooted up. 55 Jesus saw the truth 
triumphant. Therefore he was undis- 
couraged. 



80 HEAR YE HIM 

"Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever 
on the throne — 

Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, be- 
hind the dim unknown, 

Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch 
above his own." 

God's truth has been fighting its way 
through all the centuries. It has laid 
the foundations of nations, dethroned 
despots, inspired patriots. It has spo- 
ken and the shackles of slaves have 
fallen. Assaulted by error, its followers 
have kept the banner spotless in the 
fray. Oppressed by tyranny, its advo- 
cates have dared to face the foe that 
strikes it down. Tortured by fanaticism, 
the last groan of dying martyrs has 
become the battle cry of conquering 
legions. Like its divine Author, it has 
been betrayed by the kiss of hypocrisy 
and tried before injustice. Robed in 
purple and crowned with thorns by one 
generation, the next beholds it arrayed 
in a robe of light and a crown of glory. 
Scoffed at by skepticism, the finger of 



HIS WORDS 81 

scorn has been turned upon its perse- 
cutors. Nailed to a cross, intellectual 
darkness lias fallen upon its enemies 
and thrones fall to their ruin in the 
mad sway of social eruption. Sealed 
in a sepulcher, the angel, Inquiry, has 
rolled away the stone, and forth from 
its prison vault has marched God's 
eternal truth triumphant. 



VI 
HIS GREETING 

'Be of good cheer."— John 16. 33. 



VI 

HIS GREETING 

How could He say it? The Master 
and the twelve were having their fare- 
well in the upper room. His enemies 
were closing in. The arrest, the hu- 
miliation, the mockery, the indignity, 
the faithlessness of friends, the insolence 
of enemies, the garden of suffering, the 
way of sorrow, the weight of the cross 
— these were but a few hours away, 
yet he said, "Be of good cheer." 

These words are flanked by interest- 
ing declarations. On one side of this 
exhortation is this: "In the world ye 
shall have tribulation." Most people 
have first-hand information on this 
matter. They have felt the sting of 
defeat, the blows of misfortune, the lash 
of criticism, the menace and pain of 
forces too subtle to analyze or explain. 
On the other side is a triumphant 
85 



86 HEAR YE HIM 

contrast: "I have overcome the world/ 5 
It was a daring utterance. It expresses 
the prerogative of faith — victory is 
claimed in anticipation of the event. 
Some have this expectation of the soul. 

"They see the triumph from afar. 
By faith they bring it nigh." 

Here, then, are two contrasting prop- 
ositions — human trouble and divine tri- 
umph; and between them as a note 
that issues from cymbals when they are 
smitten, this message, "Be of good 
cheer." 

We recognize these words as being 
frequently on the lips of Jesus. In 
James Moffat's translation of the New 
Testament the phrase is reduced to a 
single word — "Courage!" When we 
study its derivation we find the heart 
is in it, the blood that flows through 
its valves is in it, the very essence of 
life is in it, disposition and character 
are in it — "Courage!" How inspiring 
to think of Jesus going through the 



HIS GREETING 87 

world with this wonderful word as his 
salutation, his greeting! A man who 
was an invalid through palsy hears him 
say, "Courage!" and the miracle of 
self-control is wrought. The disciples 
were on the sea, in the night, amid the 
storm, and as the wind whistled through 
the rigging of the little boat and angry 
waves lunged across its deck in spite 
of all they could do, an added terror 
seized them when they saw the form 
of Some One on the water — and then 
he spoke, "Courage!" To the folks who 
were sick, to those in the stress of 
untoward circumstances, to the dis- 
couraged and defeated there came this 
honeyed word from his lips with which 
to sweeten human life, this note of 
rapture caught from the music of the 
skies and made to vibrate amid the 
discord of earth, this morsel to nourish 
the famished souls of men — "Courage!" 
"Courage!" "Courage!" There is need 
for courage to-day. We have been 
told that it is not absence of fear but 



88 HEAR YE HIM 

the conquest of it. Foolhardiness, eager- 
ness for a wild adventure, a devil-may- 
care attitude to danger — that is not 
courage. Courage is something finer. 
It understands the peril and faces it 
unflinchingly. 

In a certain city where railroad 
tracks are numerous and trains move 
day and night, a slope along the right 
of way has given rootage to a few little 
trees and shrubs. At the top of this 
embankment is the traffic of the street. 
Yet one autumn when the wind had 
swept the bushes bare a cluster of 
birds 5 nests were revealed. Bird song 
mingled with the screech of grinding 
wheels from the trolley and the puffing 
of locomotives, a flash of wings amid 
smoke and dust, a creature of the 
sky making a home amid the machinery 
of earth. This is the quality of courage. 

Our young men have proven they 
possess this practical idealism. Their 
love of right and justice and their de- 
sire to serve has given the lie to those 



HIS GREETING 89 

critics who said our generation was one 
that was self-indulgent and incapable of 
noble action. The response of men 
from farm and factory, school and store, 
to save the imperiled heritage of free- 
dom is the glory of our times. They 
have not sought ease and safety. Those 
in civilian life have eagerly gone to 
training camps; those in training eager 
to go over-seas. When in France they 
desired to get to the front line trenches, 
then — over the top! How proud that 
home where some soldier of freedom 
went forth! And how proud was he 
when he felt his loved ones carried on 
courageously ! 

Here is an extract from a letter 
received from a splendid fellow after 
he had gone to the training camp. 
After speaking of the sense of duty 
which led him to the great decision, 
he writes: "I was influenced also in 
this by my folks. They too thought 
that my place was in the country's 
service. My mother was the bravest, 



90 HEAR YE HIM 

most heroic spirit I have ever seen. 
She put no obstacle nor objection in 
my path. She helped me take the step, 
and she did it in such a way that I 
scarcely realized what it was costing 
her until I received a letter a little 
while ago from one who was with her 
after I left. To me there is no one 
in the world to compare with her — my 
mother." This has been the spirit in 
hundreds of thousands of American 
homes. 

We have passed through trying days. 
For some of those we know and love 
they have been days of exposure; for 
all who remained at home they were 
days of anxiety. There have been loss 
and sorrow for many. Courage has 
been needed to face the day and the 
possibilities it held, whether "over 
there" or right here. Courage was 
summoned to read the daily paper and 
its casualty list. We were eager to 
know the truth and at the same time 
trembled lest the truth might bring 



HIS GREETING 91 

us a message we dreaded to hear. 
But in war or in peace, to every anxious, 
doubting, fearful soul Jesus brings this 
cheering exhortation — "Courage!" He 
held human sorrow in one hand and 
measured God's power with the other 
as he spoke this word. The splendid 
spirit with which he faced his Geth- 
semane and Golgotha may fortify our 
souls and glorify our sacrifice and 
suffering. 

What is the secret of Jesus's trium- 
phant attitude in the face of peril and 
death? He had an undiscouraged spirit. 
The prophet had said of him, "He shall 
not fail or be discouraged." Is there 
some reasonable ground on which he 
stands that justifies this message to his 
followers? He was one who 

"Never doubted clouds would break, 
Never dreamed though right were worsted 
Wrong would triumph. Held we fail to rise, 
Are baffled to fight better, sleep to wake." 

He believed in what Robert Louis 



92 HEAR YE HIM 

Stevenson described as "the ultimate 
decency of things." He saw more 
clearly than Tennyson that "through 
the ages one increasing purpose runs." 
He believed that things were going to 
come out right. He believed it not 
because he trusted in things and events, 
but because he trusted eternal truths 
of which mere things and events are the 
by-products. Things change. Jerusa- 
lem might fall, the Jews be scattered, 
Rome and the Csesars have their day, 
a cross be erected, his life blood ooze 
out of every wound; but righteousness, 
justice, truth, love would live forever. 
The Declaration of Independence might 
be lost, but liberty would remain. 
Every school and college might burn, 
but education would go on. The court- 
house might be destroyed, but justice 
would rule. Though the church might 
disappear, the gospel would still be 
"the power of God unto salvation." A 
world at war cannot defeat the ultimate 
triumph of democracy and brotherhood. 



HIS GREETING 93 

Jesus invites us to stand with him 
in an unshaken confidence in the spir- 
itual forces of his kingdom. His great 
concern was for their triumph and not 
for his personal safety. "In the world 
you have trouble, but Courage! I have 
conquered the world. " 



VII 

HIS CROSS 

"But God forbid that I should glory, 
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, by whom the world is crucified 
unto me, and I unto the world." — 
Galatians 6. 1J/,. 



VII 

HIS CROSS 

The cross is inseparably joined to 
Christianity. Ever since the Master 
suffered and died upon it men have 
identified it with his passion. Cruci- 
fixion was a most ignominious death. 
The cross was a symbol of shame. 
But he spoke of it repeatedly. He 
told his disciples to "take up the 
cross/ 5 and this he did when his hour 
had come. Early its shadow fell across 
his path. The coming tragedy was no 
surprise to him. He saw the grim out- 
line of the cross on the horizon to which 
he traveled. He did not turn aside. 
Into Jerusalem, into the upper room, 
into the garden, amid the rabble, 
through the way of sorrows — on to the 
cross! Since that hour the cross has 
had a new meaning. This symbol of 
97 



98 HEAR YE HIM 

shame has become a scepter of power. 
The "place of skulls" was turned to a 
shrine of devotion. Calvary is the 
throne from which he makes conquest 
of the world. 

The early church was quick to see the 
significance of the cross. It expressed 
the story of Christ's love, his mission 
and his sacrifice. His followers gloried 
in it. It was drawn on the walls of 
the catacombs. It was made the 
architectural outline of great cathedrals. 
It was planted on the mountain top 
and erected in the valley. It appeared 
along the wayside and in the city's 
mart. It became a glorious, resplendent 
thing upon the altar. As a bejeweled 
ornament it has been fondled by idle 
fingers. It is made the pendant for a 
string of beads. It tops the spire of 
countless churches. When we think on 
these things we wonder if its message 
has reached man's heart. Iron Crosses, 
Victorian Crosses, the Crosses of War 
and wooden crosses bestrewn upon the 



HIS CROSS 99 

fields of Flanders and of France! Just 
when we were apt to view this symbol 
of our faith superficially came the great 
call for sacrifice and the opportunity 
to learn anew the meaning of the cross. 
Never has it been so prominently em- 
blazoned before men's eyes, never has 
that word been so frequently on men's 
lips. 

There is the cross of history. Calvary 
is an authenticated event. It is em- 
bedded in the life of the world. When 
in the fullness of time the race was 
ready for this divine revelation, Jesus 
came. The ceremonial rites of Israel, 
the voices of the prophets, the expecta- 
tions of the people all pointed to his 
coming. So dynamic has that event 
proven itself to be that our calendar 
makes testimony of it. We date time 
from his life. As the story of his 
ministry and mission is at the center 
of the Scriptures, so it is at the center 
of history. Mount Calvary is easily 
discernible in the range of the past. 



100 HEAR YE HIM 

There is a glory on this mountain not 
to be found on the other peaks of 
earthly achievement. Since he was 
"nailed for our advantage to the cruel 
cross' ' centuries have come and gone, 
kings and empires have arisen and 
passed away. But a strange dynamic 
resides in the cross and the story of 
its sacrifice. It survives the change 
and decay of earth. Other good men 
have died. There have been martyrs 
of the truth in many ages. Sacrifices 
have been numerous by those who 
served their fellow men. But there is 
something so extraordinary in the gospel 
as to compel History to say, "Surely 
this was the Son of God.' 5 Therefore 
we sing, 

"In the cross of Christ I glory, 

Towering o'er the wrecks of time; 
All the light of sacred story 

Gathers round its head sublime." 

There is the cross of place. Calvary 
had a geographical setting. The drama 



HIS CROSS 101 

was enacted in all its tragic details on 
that 

". . . green hill far away, 
Beside a city wall." 

Therefore pilgrim feet have turned 
toward Palestine. Men have sought to 
worship where the surroundings would 
remind them of his suffering. That 
there are two claimants in modern 
Jerusalem for this distinction of Cal- 
vary need not destroy our admiration 
for that type of devotion which through 
centuries has sought to memorialize the 
scenes of his earthly ministry and keep 
fragrant his memory among men. 

Those who are familiar with Amer- 
ican history know the far-reaching effect 
of the fall of Quebec, when French con- 
trol yielded to the British. Under the 
cover of darkness Wolfe led his men 
across the Saint Lawrence River, up the 
steep slopes on the Canadian side, and 
in the gray dawn fell upon the enemy. 
A simple shaft on the Plains of Abra- 



102 HEAR YE HIM 

ham signalizes the event and the death 
of the brave general who led the expe- 
dition. It is a simple and sublime in- 
scription one reads, "Here died Wolfe 
victorious," Upon the heights above 
Jerusalem a most decisive battle was 
fought in the long ago. The forces of 
heaven and hell were in battle array. 
"Here died Jesus Christ victorious." 
What then looked like defeat has proven 
a triumph. No monument marks the 
place. No inscription praises the victor. 
Calvary has become something more 
than an event in the calendar or in 
Palestine. 

There is the cross of experience. This 
is the real Calvary. Too many accept 
the cross of history or geography and 
fail to make acquaintance with the cross 
in human life. 

With Jesus it was a matter of expe- 
rience. It meant complete surrender to 
the will of God. "Though he were a 
Son, yet learned he obedience by the 
things which he suffered." It meant 



HIS CROSS 103 

sacrifice for others, a sacrifice that had 
a definite relation to the sins of the 
world. It was a sacrifice both general 
and personal. "He tasted death for 
every man," yet each individual may 
truthfully say, "He loved me and gave 
himself for me/' The experience of the 
cross meant that Jesus met the supreme 
test of love. "Greater love hath no 
man than this, that a man lay down 
his life for his friends." Yet the love of 
Christ was greater than this. "Scarcely 
for a righteous man will one die: yet 
peradventure for a good man some 
would even dare to die. But God com- 
mendeth his love toward us, in that, 
while we were yet sinners, Christ died 
for us." 

Is the cross an experience with you? 
Have you found Calvary a spiritual 
force that transforms life? The faith 
that saves is no mere intellectual assent 
as to time or place, but a surrender of 
soul to the principle involved in Christ's 
great offering. "Are you a Christian?" 



104 HEAR YE HIM 

is sometimes asked one who answers, 
"I hope so/ 5 If you have been to Cal- 
vary and have the cross in experience, 
you will know. 

His cross will mean that sin is de- 
stroyed and the soul is released from its 
bondage. "They that are Christ's have 
crucified the flesh with the affections 
and lusts." It is by the cross that "the 
world is crucified unto me and I unto 
the world," said Paul. This is no child's 
play. It is no holiday task. It is a 
searching and not a superficial process. 
It means the renunciation of sin which 
is absolute, the avowal of good which 
is complete. It means to many agony, 
blood, nails, darkness — death to self! 
But if the cross has come into your 
experience in this way, it will be a liv- 
ing power; Calvary will be real. 

His cross will mean also that you will, 
like the Master, get under the burden 
of the world's woe and sin. You will 
be willing to suffer that you may save. 
As you see him in the agony of those 



HIS CROSS 105 

last hours you will feel he may justly 
probe the heart with 

"I gave, I gave my life for thee — 
What hast thou given for me?" 

Frequently we accept the privileges of 
discipleship without taking seriously its 
obligations. "The Spirit itself beareth 
witness with our spirit, that we are the 
children of God: and if children, then 
heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with 
Christ" — and we grow elate! But read 
to the end of the sentence and you will 
find this: "If so be that we suffer with 
him, that we may be also glorified to- 
gether." If 

". . . faith hath still its Olivet, 
And love its Galilee," 

then we should not withdraw our devo- 
tion if life holds a Calvary also. 

Jerry McAuley once said to the men 
in the mission: "Jesus died to give you 
a show. But he didn't expect you to 
lie down on him and let him carry you. 



106 HEAR YE HIM 

You're to get onto his cross and suffer 
your own self for some poor chap that's 
worse off than you are." 

"Our crosses are hewn from different trees, 
But we all must have our Calvaries: 
We may climb the height from a different side, 
But we each go up to be crucified; 
As we scale the steep, another may share 
The dreadful load that our shoulders bear, 
But the costliest sorrow is all our own — 
For on the summit we bleed alone." 1 

When Jesus stood on the Mount of 
Olives he looked upon the splendor of 
ancient Jerusalem. He knew that un- 
derneath its glamour was spiritual desti- 
tution. He wept. But he did some- 
thing more. He went into the city, 
knowing what it would do to him and 
ready to give his life for it and all men. 
The modern Christian is met with the 
same challenge. In the pressure of the 
modern city, with its squalor and need, 
its inequalities and sin; facing the world, 

1 "Golgotha," from Love Triumphant, by Fred- 
erick Laurence Knowles. Published by The Page 
Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 



HIS CROSS 107 

with its unevangelized populations and 
its nations which have not yet heard 
the glad tidings of great joy, what is he 
to do? It is not sufficient to grow sen- 
timental. It will not solve the prob- 
lem to take a collection — if that is all 
you purpose to do. The work of the 
kingdom cannot be done by proxy. The 
need is for life! — life in sacrifice and 
service! life poured with streams of 
blessing into other lives! life, all there 
is of it, reflecting the Master's spirit 
and reenforcing his summons to the 
souls of men. 

Is not this the interpretation of the 
cross with which we have grown fa- 
miliar in recent years? O the splendid 
men who have counted not their lives 
dear unto themselves, but have freely 
given themselves for others that right- 
eousness might be reinstated in human 
affairs, that justice might rule and 
peace be restored! 

A great religious leader of England 
was near the front in Europe. The 



108 HEAR YE HIM 

battle had raged that day. He came 
upon the body of a boy whom he knew. 
There on the field of carnage he had 
made the supreme sacrifice. From his 
brow the crimson tide of life had ebbed 
away. Then the mute lips seemed to 
speak, and say, "This is my body 
which was broken for you." Familiar 
words describing the Master's passion 
and related to it! 

"O Cross that liftest up my head, 
I dare not ask to fly from thee; 
I lay in dust life's glory dead, 
And from the ground there blossoms red 
Life that shall endless be." 



VIII 

HIS EXAMPLE 

"Pure religion and undefiled before 
God the Father is this, To visit the 
fatherless and widows in their affliction 
and to keep himself unspotted from the 
world."— James 1. 27. 



VIII 
HIS EXAMPLE 

Pure religion — where shall it be 
found? Is there some shrine that guar- 
antees it, some ritual that defines it, 
some church that represents it? We 
have heard of the movement for pure 
food and fabrics. We understand there 
is need for purity in politics. But a 
pure religion is the great imperative of 
life. 

Sometimes in order to go forward it 
is first necessary to go backward. To 
consummate our ideals it is desirable to 
study the Ideal. If the building shall 
be completed with iron girders and lofty 
columns and stately hallways, it is need- 
ful to consult frequently the architects' 
drawings and have respect unto blue 
prints and specifications. If the ship of 
111 



112 HEAR YE HIM 

state passes into perilous shoals on 
stormy seas, it strengthens faith to 
know 

"What anvils rang, what hammers beat, 
In what a forge and what a heat 

Were shaped the anchors of its hope." 

In the centuries of Christian history 
certain excrescences have appeared. 
These must be cleared away in order 
to get at the real truth. The husk must 
be stripped away to secure the kernel, 
the casket removed if the jewel is re- 
vealed, the covering folded back to feel 
the heart beat. The church has been 
doing this. Debates and speculations 
have been laid aside. Men everywhere 
are seeking the essential message of 
Jesus Christ to the world. 

It is only natural that in thinking of 
pure religion we turn to Jesus. This is 
what James did. At least we may in- 
dulge this pleasant fancy. James was 
the brother of our Lord. When he said, 
"Pure religion and undefiled before God 



HIS EXAMPLE 113 

the Father is this, To visit the father- 
less and widows in their affliction, and 
to keep himself unspotted from the 
world/' he was not didactic, but 
reminiscent. 

It must have been a happy home 
there in the Galilaean hills. Nazareth 
was where they lived. Joseph was a 
carpenter. Wherever a carpenter works 
is a good place for children to play. 
There was Jesus, the eldest, about whom 
there hovered a mystic charm and whose 
every movement and word was followed 
by the loving eyes of Mary the mother. 
Then there were the brothers James and 
Joses and Judas and Simon, and the 
sisters. They played in the shavings 
and joined in the games of childhood. 
They carried their father his noonday 
lunch when he was at work. They made 
excursions to the neighboring hills. 
James was next to Jesus in age, and 
they were no doubt more frequently in 
companionship. Often they climbed the 
hill back of the town and looked down 



114 HEAR YE HIM 

on its zigzag streets and heard in the 
distance the noise of its traffic and the 
cries of its venders. Here they talked 
confidentially. Out yonder on the plain 
of Esdraelon they could sight passing 
camel trains, the marching legions of 
Rome, or perchance a royal equipage. 
Far to the west was Mount Carmel and 
a glimpse of the sea. To the north was 
Mount Hermon and to the east the hills 
beyond the Jordan. It was a secluded 
spot with wide horizons. 

Let us believe that here the boy 
Jesus expressed his opinions to the 
younger brother James. In all he ever 
said or did he was blameless. One of 
the most satisfactory pictures of the 
youthful Jesus is found in Henry van 
Dyke's story, The Lost Boy. The 
beauty of this narrative is in the fact 
that here in the unrecorded days of his 
youth he is portrayed doing the same 
kindly things which later characterized 
his ministry. 

When the foster father Joseph died, 



HIS EXAMPLE 115 

the responsibilities of the home pressed 
with heavier weight on the first-born 
son, Jesus. The children in that Naz- 
areth household began to see in him a 
new seriousness, a new tenderness with 
his mother Mary, and a new thought- 
fulness for them, now left fatherless. 
The winsome way he had with them 
and the correctness of his conduct was 
never forgotten, though his public ca- 
reer was later misunderstood. Then 
many years passed. James became the 
head of the church in Jerusalem. When 
asked to define discipleship what wonder 
the past arose in memory! His mind re- 
called the purity and kindliness of his 
elder Brother. "The best definition of 
religion I know anything about/' he 
might have said, "is the life my Brother 
lived. He was undefiled before God. 
He kept himself unspotted from the 
world. He was always doing good. He 
was tender with those who had sorrow 
and loss. Pure religion is just that— 
to visit the fatherless and the widows 



116 HEAR YE HIM 

in their affliction, and to keep oneself 
unspotted from the world." 

Cleanliness. It is not easy to meet 
this requirement in a world full of con- 
tamination. How beautiful the snow 
when it first spreads its pure mantle 
over the city! Then the paths are 
broken, the traffic wears its way along 
the street, chimneys rain smoke and 
soot, and at last the coverlid of snow is 
soiled and unsightly. How clear the 
lake from which the little river runs 
with sweeping grace among the reeds, 
dancing over pebbly shallows and paus- 
ing thoughtfully in pools which mirror 
the sky! Then it is joined by a stream 
which has just come from a plowed 
field lately drenched with rain, and there 
is discoloration. Later another comes 
with a rusty streak because it neighbors 
to a mineral ledge. Man digs a channel 
or builds a dam. * Cities empty their 
sewers in the passing flood. By the 
time the Mississippi gets to the broad 
bottoms of the Southland it is not much 



HIS EXAMPLE 117 

like the little river that bids farewell to 
Lake Itasca. A coin, bright, clear-cut, 
beautiful with the fresh imprint of the 
government upon it, goes into circula- 
tion. It goes from hand to hand, into 
dark pockets, across counters, into the 
bank and out again, from one end of the 
country to another. The next time you 
see it (if there is a next time) it shows its 
contact with the world. The soul is like 
the snow flake or the river or the coin. 
Our holiest hours and our most hal- 
lowed experiences are subject to dan- 
ger. In the "Intimations of Immortality 
from the Recollections of Childhood" 
the poet Wordsworth pictures the child 
coming into the world trailing clouds of 
glory. Heaven lies about him in his 
infancy and youth, 

". . . by the vision splendid 
Is on his way attended; 
At length the man perceives it die away 
And fade into the light of common day." 

O the flat level of monotony! the disil- 



118 HEAR YE HIM 

lusionment of the common day! How 
the soul is robbed of its visions and its 
heroisms ! 

Men have tried to keep themselves 
unspotted from the world by shutting 
the world out. Enter the mystic, the 
hermit, the ascetic, the recluse. But 
this is not the method of Christ: "I 
pray not that thou shouldest take them 
out of the world, but that thou shouldest 
keep them from the evil." What he 
prayed for he helps to perform. Chris- 
tian nurture, wholesome environment, 
inspiring friendships are powerful in- 
centives to right living; and a personal 
faith in Jesus Christ is more dynamic 
than all. As the healthy body throws 
off the subtle attack of disease germs, 
the soul may live in moral vigor, and 
with the ready use of spiritual antisep- 
tics keep immune to hostile doubts and 
fears. Cleanliness of soul is not only a 
mark of pure religion, it is a product 
of it. 

Compassion. This element was abun 



HIS EXAMPLE 119 

dant in the life of Christ. He was 
moved to serve the multitude. He was 
touched with the feelings of their in- 
firmities. He was especially tender to 
the widowed and orphaned. He went 
about doing good. 

If our times have suffered an inunda- 
tion of crime and cruelty, they have 
also witnessed the greatest outpouring 
of compassion and kindness which hu- 
manity has ever experienced. If thieves 
and robbers have done their disgraceful 
work, the good Samaritan has also been 
at hand. War has swept the earth with 
desolating power. Pestilence and hun- 
ger have stalked among the nations. 
Blood and tears have run like rivers. 
The cry of stricken peoples in danger 
of extermination from brutal enemies 
has been heard around the earth. We 
would have been engulfed in madness 
had not relief been possible in chivalric 
protest on the field of battle and avenues 
of service opened from our homes to the 
uttermost parts of the world's need. 



120 HEAR YE HIM 

We cannot explain the heroic sacrifices, 
the vicarious suffering, the generous 
sympathy of our times on any other 
basis than the influence of Jesus's life 
and example. His compassion for the 
weak and wronged of earth was the 
guerdon of strength that sent the soldier 
to his task and the guidon of those who 
followed in the wake of war to heal its 
hurts. 

Surely, the old rivalries have been 
forever discredited. Not suspicion but 
sympathy, not anger but interest, not 
competition but cooperation, not bitter- 
ness but brotherhood point the way to 
correct human relationships. Hearts 
that have been broken by sorrow are 
wanting to know the way to prevent 
the recurrence of the tragedy from which 
we now emerge. 

" 'What is the real good?' I asked in musing mood. 
'Order/ said the court, 'Knowledge/ said the 

school, 
'Truth/ said the wise man, 'Pleasure/ said the 

fool, 



HIS EXAMPLE 121 

'Love/ said the maiden, 'Beauty/ said the page, 
'Freedom/ said the dreamer, 'Home/ said the 

sage, 
'Fame/ said the soldier, 'Equity/ the seer — 
Spake my heart full sadly, 'The answer is not 

here/ 
Then within my bosom softly this I heard — 
'Each heart holds the secret — "Kindness" is the 

word/ " 

Communion. Some keep their con- 
duct correct for the sake of respecta- 
bility. Some render service to others 
for humanitarian reasons. But the 
source of permanent help in personal 
character and in social service is God. 
When pure religion is present, God is 
present. He gives victory over sin and 
sends the life thus blessed out into 
paths of helpfulness. The secret of the 
overcoming life and the overflowing life 
is prayer. "The people who do know 
their God shall be strong and do ex- 
ploits/ 5 Communion purges the soul 
and points the way to duty. 

If the Master needed to pray, how 
much more do we! Before every great 



122 HEAR YE HIM 

occasion, in every crisis we see him in 
communion with the heavenly Father. 
He separated himself from the multi- 
tude that he might be alone with God. 
He spent whole nights in prayer under 
the Syrian stars talking with One who 
was nearer to him than the stars. More 
than once he arose before it was day 
and went aside to some secluded spot 
where he kept his tryst with God. 

The way to the recovery of spiritual 
sensitiveness and the release of spiritual 
forces is by the path of prayer. It is 
not an easy path. There is something 
in it that carries the heart in the direc- 
tion the petition takes. A minister was 
led one Sabbath morning to pray espe- 
cially for India. The congregation 
heard him pour out his heart to God for 
that land of Christian opportunity. 
There was no explanation except that 
the burden of it came upon his soul. 
He did not shift the burden. He car- 
ried it. He prayed again and again for 
India. Before twelve months had passed 



HIS EXAMPLE 123 

he had left his great church for the 
mission field, changed his residence from 
America to the Orient. Prayer is ex- 
pensive, but since through it we learn 
the will of God it is worth all it costs. 

Hear the parable of the wheatfield. 
It was waving in billows of gold under 
the August sun. As the heads of grain 
nodded and tossed the kernels spoke. 
This was their plaint: "0 that we might 
be of some use in the world. Here we 
are swinging about on these stocks in 
the midst of this great field. No one 
will ever hear of us or know our worth." 
And the God of the harvest heard their 
prayer and answered it. 

Horses came tramping through that 
field dragging a machine whose terrible 
knives flew back and forth, cutting off 
the heads of all the grain that stood 
upright. The bearded stocks were 
caught into bundles and tied fast, while 
the kernels whispered in fear, "How 
terrible!" Then one day they heard a 
great noise and a smoking, shrieking 



124 HEAR YE HIM 

monster crept into the edge of the field. 
Cruel forks were thrust into them and 
they were tossed into the maw of this 
monster and disappeared in its dark in- 
terior. Here the sheaves were beaten 
and thrashed and the clothing nature 
had given each tiny grain was stripped 
aside and hurled into the air, falling 
prostrate in a great heap, while the little 
kernels huddled close together and 
gasped, "What next?" They traveled 
for a night and a day in a long train. 
They were elevated to the top of some 
great building whose muffled hum of 
machinery grew louder. They were 
moving in the darkness, but could not 
tell where. They plunged downward — 
but were caught, and crushed. They 
were beaten and bolted. They came 
through the process as fine as powder. It 
was carried away. Then it was mixed 
with liquids and molded into shape. It 
was thrust into an oven that was hotter 
than any August sun the wheat had 
known. At last it appeared upon the 



HIS EXAMPLE 125 

table of a humble home. The family- 
gathered and bowed with reverence 
while the father in that home asked 
God's grace upon them. And while 
their heads were bowed the Lord of 
the harvest bent low over the brown 
loaf of bread and whispered, "This is 
the answer to your prayer/' 

Cleanliness, compassion, communion 
— but the greatest of these is com- 
munion, for only so can the heart keep 
pure and life fulfill its mission. 



IX 

HIS VICTORY 

"Thanks be to God, which giveth us 
the victory through our Lord Jesus 
Christ." — 1 Corinthians 15. 57. 



IX 
HIS VICTORY 

Thanks for victory! With what glad 
acclaim the nations hailed the termina- 
tion of the war! Pent-up feelings were 
released. Patriotism became vocal. 
Hilarity prevailed. The doxology was 
mingled with "sweet freedom's song." 
Multitudes wept for joy. Millions 
lifted hearts of prayer and praise. 
"Thanks be unto God who giveth us 
the victory." 

Whose victory? His victory! 

There have been some interesting dis- 
coveries during the war. We have 
found out that idealism was not dead, 
but the glorious possession of our youth. 
The lie has been given to that false 
buccaneering doctrine that might makes 
right. We have learned that freedom 
is not a matter of geography but a 
129 



130 HEAR YE HIM 

human passion as wide as the race. We 
have discovered our citizenship is not a 
rope of sand, but a cable whose fibers 
are woven together in mighty strength 
a<nd able to hold the anchor of the ship 
of state in any storm. But as the smoke 
of battle clears away it has been in- 
creasingly apparent that the victory is 
essentially a spiritual one. "He maketh 
wars to cease unto the end of the earth; 
he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the 
spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot 
in the fire. Be still, and know that I 
am God: ... I will be exalted in the 
earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; 
the God of Jacob is our refuge." It 
has been God's victory. 

The real war has been in the realm of 
ideas. It has been a clash of character. 
"Morale" has been emphasized and 
urged as never before for its militant 
value, and it hastened the triumph. 
Ideas have been as important as iron. 
Opinions can make conquest like march- 
ing armies. The intonation of artillery, 



HIS VICTORY 131 

the clash of steel, trenches, air raids, 
convoys, cantonments, hospitals, and 
huts have all been a nepessary part of 
the struggle, but they obtain signifi- 
cance as they represent the ideals that 
move men to action. 

It is therefore possible to trace the 
course of the war in this realm of 
thought and conviction, in this upper 
region of sentiment and feeling where 
the soul speaks. To review these san- 
guinary years we need not pass through 
desolated France and Flanders, nor con- 
sider crimson battlefields nor the wreck- 
age on the ocean's floor. Study the 
phrases that have been expressive of 
current opinion. When they are grouped 
they furnish an epitome of these years 
of struggle. They visualize the veering 
fortunes of war. They interpret the 
convictions that have moved men to 
sacrifice and service. You can write the 
unfolding drama of the world war in 
these phrases. 

"Deutschland uber alles" This is the 



132 HEAR YE HIM 

egotistical assumption that started the 
war. We have learned that there is 
great capacity for making trouble in 
national arrogance. 

It is unnecessary to trace the historical 
development of this idea. There was a 
half century of commercial growth and 
scientific study and progress. For this 
same period a great nation was indoc- 
trinated in the subtle philosophy of force. 
In the summer of 1914 this idea, which 
had become the obsession of the Kaiser 
and his crowd, lifted its ominous boast 
before the world and backed it with the 
mailed fist. 

The phrase represents a distinct view 
of the state. In it the individual is 
subservient. The state may even have 
a different set of moral standards than 
those held by the individual; and these 
are supreme! Kultur was the commod- 
ity that Germany felt divinely commis- 
sioned to give to all the world. Whether 
their policy of "frightfulness" was a 
part of their kultur, it was certainly used 



HIS VICTORY 133 

for the purpose of subduing their ene- 
mies and thus compelling the acceptance 
of it. So the phrase was born of their 
philosophy. As long as it remained at 
home and spent itself parading and 
goose-stepping and sword-rattling the 
rest of the world looked on with good- 
natured contempt. But it was inevitable 
that this spirit would break across its 
own boundaries. Then war! 

"They shall not pass." We recognize 
here the answer to the braggart chal- 
lenge of Germany. It is the immortal 
utterance of the French in their defense 
of Verdun. The city in ruins, the hills 
denuded of forests, thousands slain — 
but, "They shall not pass." 

That statement is something more 
than a Verdun incident. It is the ex- 
pression of France's soul for the viola- 
tion of its territory on every inch of its 
border. The rights of property and the 
sanctity of human life were affronted 
by a selfish and brutal enemy, and the 
indignant protest of France and Belgium 



134 HEAR YE HIM 

against this desecration flamed forth into 
heroism. 

Soon Germany's brigandage extended 
beyond the western front. The seas 
were involved. Nothing was sacred. 
The weak had no rights that they were 
bound to respect. Germany must be 
over all. 

Then the world began to see the issue. 
Those farther from the scenes of con- 
flict learned that when England and 
France and Belgium were saying with 
pain-drawn lips and bleeding wounds, 
"They shall not pass/' they were not 
making protest for themselves alone, but 
for the principle of self-government and 
freedom everywhere. Then another 
phrase was born. 

"The world must be made safe for 
democracy" This utterance simplified 
the issue for millions in America and 
Europe. This assertion was not an at- 
tempt to dictate the type of government 
other people shall have for themselves. 
It was a protest against another gov- 



HIS VICTORY 135 

ernment dictating to us or to anybody. 
If American citizenship was to have 
value or dignity, then the government 
of the United States was under obliga- 
tion to protect that citizenship whether 
it be on land or sea. It was imperative 
that the representative of a democracy 
should be as safe anywhere on the planet 
as the subject of a puppet king. We 
were compelled by moral necessity to 
enter the conflict. The logic of our 
faith and ideals made it imperative. 
"So we gave our glorious laddies — honor 
made us do no less." 

What a thrill must have run through 
the hearts of those American boys as 
they marched through the streets of 
London and Paris — the vanguard of mil- 
lions from American homes! Then it 
was that General Pershing stood before 
the tomb of that great Frenchman who 
had helped us in our early struggle for 
liberty and put us in lasting debt to 
France, and spoke those words which 
once more gathered up the sentiment 



136 HEAR YE HIM 

and the feelings of a continent, words 
eloquent in brevity and beauty — 

"Lafayette, we are here." That ut- 
terance will be considered one of the 
memorable statements of the war. It 
was epoch-making. It represented an- 
other step in this evolution of sentiment. 
To pay our debt to France these soldiers 
of freedom came — to gallant England 
also, and to brave Belgium! Our allies 
fought our battles at the beginning of 
the war; we fought theirs at the close. 
How these men of the nations went 
over the top, "carried on," suffered un- 
complainingly, fought heroically, died 
victoriously — is it not all written on 
our hearts? 

But there is one more phrase to com- 
plete this series. The first phrase was 
"made in Germany," but this last one 
was made in the United States. It was 
packed up in the kit bag along with the 
equipment of every soldier who went 
across. It was coined by General Grant 
at Vicksburg. It is what U. S. 



HIS VICTORY 137 

stands for — "Unconditional surrender!" 
"Deutchland liber alles" is the phrase 
of William II. "They shall not pass' 5 
was said by Marshal Petain. President 
Wilson declared, "The world must be 
made safe for democracy." General 
Pershing spoke those words, "Lafayette, 
we are here." But "Unconditional sur- 
render" is a phrase that is more than 
Grant's. It is freedom's ultimatum to 
slavery whether in America or Europe. 
It is democracy's defiant call to autoc- 
racy. It is Christianity's terms of 
capitulation to evil and injustice every- 
where. 

The story of the war may thus be 
told in the outstanding phrases of the 
war. Words are weapons. Thoughts 
can break down opposition like tanks. 
Sentences will penetrate defenses an air 
raid cannot reach. The war has been 
fought in the realm of ideas. 

What of the results? Something very 
wonderful must come out of this strug- 
gle if it is worth what it has cost. Bil- 



138 HEAR YE HIM 

lions in treasure are the wages paid to 
Mars. Can it be measured so? Ask 
those parents who have seen the blue 
star on their service flag turn to gold. 
There are millions of them. Let them 
tell what the war cost! 

These men went into the struggle be- 
cause they believed this was war on 
war. Just as slavery was ended by the 
conflict in the sixties, so they expected 
this conflict would end war. For cen- 
turies the nations have been burdened 
by armaments. They have known there 
was a better way. History has testified 
that the field of battle has been a waste- 
ful and tragic and at best a temporary 
method of settling international dis- 
putes. We found ourselves confronted 
by a nation that gloried in militarism. 
So the only way to put away this folly 
has been to meet it with its own weapons 
and prove to those who have put their 
trust "in reeking tube and iron shard" 
that their faith was not well founded. 

If battle-maimed, sorrow-smitten, 



HIS VICTORY 139 

tragedy-shocked humanity, reviewing 
the horror of the past, were asked to 
express its supreme desire, the answer 
would be, "Let us follow after the 
things that make for peace." The 
soldier has said, "Preparedness makes 
for peace," and we have seen that doc- 
trine break down before our eyes. This 
lesson was quite apparent at the be- 
ginning of the war; it needs to be re- 
called. The statesman has said, "Diplo- 
macy makes for peace." But when 
treaties are broken and honor is re- 
pudiated, diplomacy is helpless. The 
Scriptures say, "Righteousness makes 
for peace." It is for the reestablishment 
of righteousness and justice that the war 
has been fought. Peace must be based 
on these eternal principles to endure. 
The security of the nations from war 
will be possible only as righteousness 
pervades the life of the peoples of earth. 
This is the Bible's message. The angels' 
song, "Peace on earth to men of good 
will," has been heard anew. To build 



140 HEAR YE HIM 

good will into all our social, industrial, 
political, and international relationships 
is the task of the church. 

"Christianity has failed" was the dis- 
couraging opinion when the war came. 
Now we see it has been vindicated and 
victorious. It was because, under the 
tuition of the gospel, men were trained 
to sensitiveness in ethical standards that 
they revolted at the brutality and dis- 
honor of Germany. This is why they 
engaged in this crusade to crush Mars. 
'Tailed?" It is militarism that has 
failed. The skeptic is invited to behold 
the utter collapse and confusion of the 
nation that trusted in materialism and 
left God out. There has been no more 
eloquent commentary than current 
events on that ancient truth, "Right- 
eousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a 
reproach to any people." It has been 
a triumph of ideals over iron, the soul 
over selfishness, liberty over license, 
brotherhood over brutality and Chris- 
tianity over kultur. To keep this vie- 



HIS VICTORY 141 

tory of the Master in modern life secure 
is the only thing that will justify the 
expenditure of the last few years in 
treasure and in life. 

We rejoice in this victory, but are 
humbled by the tremendous problems 
before us. Shall the moral aims of the 
war be conserved? Will this be the 
end of strife? Can society be recon- 
structed after Christian ideals? Will 
the nations of the earth learn war no 
more? The church must be the guardian 
of this priceless heritage that has been 
purchased by unutterable sacrifice. No 
moral gain must be lost. No spiritual 
advantage or opportunity must be over- 
looked. No advance in idealism must 
be dissipated. No enthusiasm for right 
and justice and honor and peace must 
be allowed to lapse into indifference 
through selfishness. 



X 

HIS PROGRAM 

'Thy kingdom come." — Matthew 6. 



10. 



X 

HIS PROGRAM 

There has been no more hated word 
in current speech during the war than 
"autocracy." It summons before the 
mind all that is repulsive in recent 
times. The trappings of imperialism we 
detest. "Bow the knee!" is a cry from 
the long ago that sounds strange to the 
modern man who is accustomed to stand 
straight and look the world in the face. 
"Long live the king!" is a sentiment we 
make conditional upon the character of 
the king and how long he has already 
lived. "Democracy" is the great word 
nowadays. Some rhymster parodied the 
happy lines of Robert Louis Stevenson 
at the beginning of the war: 

"The world is so full of a number of kings 
That I think that is just what's the matter 
with things." 

145 



146 HEAR YE HIM 

Yet Christian people through the cen- 
turies have been committed to an au- 
tocracy. With all our declarations of 
independence, we have prayed for it. It 
is the dream of poets and prophets. It 
is the glowing ideal of generations of 
Christian struggle, the consummation 
of the church, the end of human pro- 
gress, the final autocracy. We have 
expressed our faith and purpose in the 
prayer, "Thy kingdom come." To re- 
alize this in the life of the world is the 
Master's program. 

The preponderance of sentiment in 
our Christian concepts is for a mon- 
archy — and an absolute monarchy at 
that. The Scriptures set up the whole 
program of Christianity on the basis of 
a kingdom. We have been taught to 
think of God on a throne with a court 
of adoring angels. The wise men in- 
quired, "Where is he that is born king 
of the Jews?" At the trial of Jesus, 
when asked "Art thou a king then?" 
he made reply, "To this end was I 



HIS PROGRAM 147 

born, and for this cause came I into the 
world, that I should bear witness unto 
the truth." He repeatedly spoke of the 
kingdom of heaven. It was in his first 
message — "Repent, for the kingdom of 
heaven is at hand." It was in his last 
message, "This gospel of the kingdom 
shall be preached in all the world." He 
conducted himself in regal manner. He 
spoke as one having authority. He de- 
clared, "All power is given unto me in 
heaven and in earth." The idea of a 
kingdom has woven itself into the 
terminology of Christianity so com- 
pletely that if one attempted to remove 
the word, it would ravel out the fabric. 
In spite of all our boasted democracy 
we are glad to sing, 

"Jesus shall reign where'er the sun 
Does his successive journeys run; 
His kingdom spread from shore to shore, 
Till moons shall wax and wane no more." 

Are we guilty of some inconsistency 
here? What are the objectives of this 



148 HEAR YE HIM 

kingdom? Perhaps we shall find that 
in the autocracy of Christ's kingdom 
there is the surest guarantee of democ- 
racy. The freedom of mankind is best 
secured by the government of God. His 
program is to awaken in each individual 
the spirit of Christ and make that type 
of character universal in society. It 
searches each soul and sweeps the circle 
of humanity. "Thy kingdom come." 
Is it coming? Where does it come — 
and how and when? 

The kingdom comes not by transpor- 
tation but by transformation. The Master 
made this clear. "The kingdom of God 
cometh not with observation: neither 
shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! 
for, behold, the kingdom of God is 
within you." 

There has been a constant tendency 
to think of the Kingdom in terms of 
geography. Men have thought if a few 
select souls could be colonized it would 
assure the fulfillment of Christ's plan. 
As Palestine is the place for the Jews 



HIS PROGRAM 149 

and the Zionist movement contemplates 
their return to the near East; as Liberia 
was established as a republic for the 
colored race; so there have been those 
who have undertaken to establish 
Christ's kingdom by selecting a spot 
where congenial souls might gather and 
escape the confusion and the problems 
of the world. Some make their escape 
from present duties by dwelling in happy 
contemplation on the heavenly country, 
or they journey back to the early 
church or even to "forty years ago." 

It is a common thing to imagine that 
we could do better if we had a different 
set of conditions than those we face. 
But relief comes not by running away 
from a hard task or squirming under 
moral pressure. If the conditions sur- 
rounding our lives are unfavorable to 
Christian character, then the conditions 
themselves need renovation. The king- 
dom of God may apply its cleansing 
power to environment and circum- 
stances as well as to life. "Ye are the 



150 HEAR YE HIM 

salt of the earth/ 5 and are meant to 
act as an antiseptic amid the corrup- 
tion of society. "Ye are the light of 
the world/' and your presence is meant 
to drive to cover the creatures of the 
night. "As it was in the beginning, is 
now, and ever shall be," is not a de- 
scription of the hopelessness of society. 
Transformation is possible in the city 
and countryside as well as in the indi- 
vidual heart. "Let us alone," cry the 
devils of to-day as in the time of Jesus. 
The institutions of iniquity do not ask 
cooperation from the church — just in- 
difference. But when the Christian 
conscience is aroused and Christian sen- 
timent is massed in a resistless move- 
ment for righteousness, the followers of 
the Master can say to the demons in 
the body politic, "Come out of him," 
and they will obey. "Thy kingdom 
come on earth" — right where you live, 
among the folks you know, transforming 
your life and the life around you — to 
the uttermost part of the world. 



HIS PROGRAM 151 

The kingdom comes not by miracle 
but by man. In every generation there 
are those who expect a miracle. They 
see no hope of improvement for society 
except by God's intervention. They 
look for the rending of the heavens and 
the return of the Lord. They seem to 
invalidate God's plan and deny his 
power to work through men for the 
overthrow of iniquity. To confess that 
only a miracle will recover the world 
to righteousness presumes Jesus made a 
mistake in trusting humanity with this 
task. It devitalizes faith. It cuts the 
nerve of evangelism. It drains the 
arteries of missionary endeavor. If 
mankind is growing steadily worse and 
the eternal status of every soul is al- 
ready fixed by divine decree, there is 
no sane reason for another sermon to 
be preached; the whole Christian en- 
deavor to build the gospel into the life 
of the world is mockery. Yet there are 
those who think the best God can do is 
to save a few out of the coming wreck. 



152 HEAR YE HIM 

Such dependence upon miraculous in- 
tervention withdraws attention from 
human need to a realm of speculation, 
and while the eyes are lifted toward the 
skies in expectation the hands are empty 
in service. 

There are miracles to-day, but they 
are the miracles of grace and of re- 
demption. The power of God will 
manifest itself through human faith and 
human service. He is "able to do ex- 
ceeding abundantly above all that we 
ask or think, according to the power that 
worketh in us." Have we measured the 
limits of such a provision? Have we 
discovered this dynamic in experience? 
Dare we say any task is impossible 
with such assurance of God's help? 
The kingdom of God comes not by 
heavens rent in twain, the spectacle of 
an angelic host or a trumpet note. It 
comes through the spirit of God work- 
ing with human hands, human voices, 
human conduct, human influence and 
consecration and generosity, by family 



HIS PROGRAM 153 

altars and Sunday schools and churches, 
by reading the Bible and by preaching 
the gospel, by the Red Cross and the 
Red Triangle on the fields of battle, 
by hospitals and schools for bodies and 
minds, by Christian votes, by reforms, 
by an honest endeavor to do the will 
of God as it has been revealed in 
Jesus Christ and the insistence that 
the same standards of conduct which 
we cherish for ourselves shall be ap- 
plied with equal conscientiousness ta 
society. 

The kingdom comes not by the cal- 
endar but by character. It is a process 
rather than an event. The year of its 
consummation is not known. If the 
date is in God's calculation of time it is 
a "movable" date — and we are the folks 
that move it! We can hasten or delay 
the coming of the Kingdom. 

Do we really believe the world is 
growing better? Will time ever come 
when courts are abandoned because the 
dream of Micah has come true — "What 



154 HEAR YE HIM 

doth the Lord require of thee, but to 
do justly, to love mercy, and to walk 
humbly with thy God?" Will society 
find its most effective police power in 
love which is "The fulfillment of the 
law"? Will the foundation of educa- 
tion be everywhere recognized — "The 
fear of the Lord is the beginning of 
wisdom"? Will the venom of race 
prejudice be removed because we ac- 
knowledge, "He hath made of one blood 
all nations"? Will public opinion find 
its noblest expression in such a senti- 
ment as "Whatsoever he saith unto you, 
do it"? Will armaments be cast aside 
by the nations because war is univer- 
sally discredited — "Nation shall not lift 
up sword against nation, neither shall 
they learn war any more"? Do we think 
the annunciator's words something more 
than a beautiful picture, "The kingdoms 
of this world are become the kingdoms 
of our Lord and of his Christ"? 

"Watchman, what of the night?" 
And the answer in the twentieth cen- 



HIS PROGRAM 155 

tury is the same as in the prophets' 
time — "The morning breaketh." 

"The earth rolls into the light; 
It is daybreak everywhere." 

The question is not "Is the kingdom 
coming?" but "Are we coming?" The 
peril of to-day and to-morrow is that 
we shall not have a faith commensurate 
with our tasks. With society in a state 
of reconstruction, with the nations 
purged by the sacrifices of war, with 
continents and millions asking for the 
gospel, there is a challenge to Christian 
faith and enterprise and service unpre- 
cedented in history. There is no way 
to meet this supreme opportunity of our 
time except with a supreme consecra- 
tion. 

Around us are signs of encouragement. 
Our age was called materialistic, and the 
indictment was made with bitterness. 
But the war has revealed the finest kind 
of idealism. Men have laid down their 
Jives for liberty. They leaped into the 



156 HEAR YE HIM 

struggle from colleges and offices, from 
factories and farms, when the heritage 
of a Christian civilization was imperiled. 
Money was as nothing in comparison to 
the higher values men would not will- 
ingly surrender. Fountains of sympathy 
poured forth streams of unexpected 
service. 

There were those who were anxious 
about the relation of men to the church 
in the day before yesterday. But this 
generation of men has been reached with 
the gospel message and has seen its 
principles exemplified in service with 
such convincing effect that indifference 
again would seem to be forever impos- 
sible. Young men in the camps and on 
the campaigns, old men at home who 
have watched the struggle with heart 
strain, have been compelled to pray, to 
think on God and immortality. They 
cannot justly withhold a new valuation 
for those religious forces which have 
played such a conspicuous part in the 
winning of the war. 



HIS PROGRAM 157 

In industry also there are signs of the 
coming kingdom of God. Not many 
years ago a theological professor was 
saying, "It would be a crime to enact 
the Golden Rule as a legislative statute. " 
To-day it is a practical force in the busi- 
ness world. Men of large affairs have 
found it the most satisfactory basis on 
which to deal with their fellow men. 
Rauschenbusch declared in his book, 
Christianizing the Social Order, that 
there are certain Christianized sections 
of society — the family, the church, edu- 
cation, and politics. But in his opinion 
business was the unregenerate section of 
the social order. Already that state- 
ment is out of date. Certainly there are 
great business institutions that are loyal 
to the highest ethical ideals, that incor- 
porate the spirit of the Sermon on the 
Mount into their daily transactions, and 
do welfare work distinctly beneficial and 
Christian in character. The leaven has 
not yet leavened the whole lump — 
neither has it in politics and some other 



158 HEAR YE HIM 

sections of society — but it is working. 
Classes are learning that their best in- 
terests lie in the same direction and are 
best promoted by confidence and coop- 
eration. 

In reform movements we likewise see 
the new appraisal of human life. Vicious 
parasites of society are assailed. The 
saloon is voted out. Red light districts 
are eradicated. Better housing makes 
war on the slum. Juvenile courts and 
playgrounds address themselves to child- 
hood, and attempt to make good citizens 
of those whose tuition was largely that 
of the street. Public health is super- 
vised. Pestilence decreases. War has 
proven ineffective in keeping the world's 
peace and is in disfavor. Everywhere 
there are signs of a better world. 

There is progress. The Kingdom is 
coming. We do not feel skeptical of the 
final autocracy, for it is a benevolent 
one. Selfishness under His government 
disappears. Our moral sense compels us 
to admit His way is best. His teachings 



HIS PROGRAM 159 

are superlative. His will is good. The 
program of Jesus will save the world. 

"From sea to sea, 
Shall his dominion be — 
According to the promise written: 
And he in scorn and insult smitten 
Shall have the welcome salutations 
Of long oppressed and weary nations — 
And he shall rule, 
Star-crowned and beautiful." 



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Treatment Date: May 2006 

PreservationTechnologies 

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(724)779-2111 



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